The conservation of the Baroque heritage of Valletta

Abstract

The International Institute for Baroque Studies at the University of Malta promotes the baroque heritage, and one of its major roles is the conservation of baroque architecture. Age alone is seldom a sufficiently good reason for retention of a building, and conservation for conservation’s sake is an unsustainable argument. Quality and importance should be the primary factors, but even then individual buildings contribute little to the character of the city. This is determined more by the ordinary buildings that constitute the bulk of the built environment.