Renaissance and Mannerist architecture in Valletta, the “City of the Order”

Abstract

Girolamo Cassar (1520 ca.-1592) is widely considered to have been the rnost accornplished and prolific Maltese architect during the rule of the Order of St. John (fig. 1). His name together with that of Grand Master Fra' Jean Parisot de La Vallette (1557-1568) and the ltalian military engineer, Francesco Laparelli da Cortona (1521-1570), is synonymous with the foundation and building of Valletta as the new city of the Order (fig. 2). In fact, after Laparelli's final departure from the island in 1570, Cassar assumed full responsibility for the implementation of his plans. His contribution was not only limited to overseeing the construction of the vast network of fortifications, an ambitious and major undertaking in its own right. Cassar was also responsible for the design and construction of all the auberges of the different langues of the Order, the Grand Master 's Palace, the Sacra Infermeria, the Conventual church of St. John's, and several other churches in Valletta. Cassar had been entrusted to design the major palaces and churches required by the Order for its administration and religious functions. Undoubtedly, no other architect, Maltese or foreign, contributed as much to the creation of Valletta, and he left his indelible rmark on the city to the present day. {Excerpt}