17th Century Bishop's summer house in ruin

Abstract

In the early Knights' period as the Order further strengthened its defensive walls of Vittoriosa and Mdina, buildings inside these cities had necessarily to be compact, dense and restrictive with no place far public gardens. In fact, life in Vittoriosa must have been very claustrophobic and frustrating to the noble knights who were used to wide expanses of woodland countryside not only far their royal sport of hunting but, more importantly, because they viewed the open landscape as an Arcadian idyll contrasting sharply with the hustle and bustle of the city.