After the great siege of 1565 Grandmaster la Vallette wanted to build a new capital city for Malta. The Great Siege of 1565 was fought between the Knights of the Order of St John (with help from the Maltese) and the Turks. After a long siege lasting four months the Turks were forced to go back. The Pope sent his personal architect Francesco Lapparelli to design Valletta. Valletta was designed on the grid pattern i.e. all the streets are parallel, they are either horizontal or vertical and all lead to the sea. One will notice that all the fortified cities, with the exception of Mdina, which is built on flat ground, have steps. The reason being it was easier for the knights to go up and down the low steps instead of the hilly streets carrying their heavy armor. The main gates of Valletta are rather modern as the original ones seemed too small to take the traffic.
As one walks down Republic Street (formerly known as Kingsway) one sees the remains of what was once the Royal Opera House, designed by the English architect Barry and bombarded during the second world war. Just opposite what once was the Opera House is a beautiful Palace known as Palazzo Ferreria. Behind the Opera House are the Upper Barracca Gardens from where one can admire a breath-taking view of our Grand Harbor, one of the finest natural harbors in Europe. These gardens were once the private gardens of an Italian Knight. One can stop here in the open air cafe and have a cappuccino or an ice-cream.
Outside the gardens is
Castile Square in which there is the first important building,
the Auberge de Castile, which was the Auberge for the Portuguese
langue. It was designed by the architect Belli and is built on
two floors. On the front door is a bust of the Portuguese
Grandmaster Manuel Pinto. This is the largest and most beautiful
of the Auberges. Today it houses the office of Prime
Minister.
On the corner of the street one can admire the very first church to be built in Valletta dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. For a time the Grand Master who built Valletta - La Vallette - was buried here as the Convent Church, St John's Co Cathedral was not yet ready. Opposite Our Lady of Victories church is a lovely chapel dedicated to St Catherine. This chapel belongs to the Auberge for the Italian langue, which is a few metres down the road and today houses the General Post Office. All the Auberges had their own chapel, but not inside the Auberge, usually a short distance from the Auberge itself.
Opposite the Post Office is Palazzo Parisio, which today houses the ministry of foreign affairs. If one looks up to the right of the Palazzo, one can see a plaque in marble saying that Napoleon Bonaparte lived for seven days in June 1798 in this very Palace.
In Merchants Street on the second block and on the left is a chapel belonging to the Auberge de Castile - the Portuguese language. This is a lovely chapel and inside one can admire a beautiful painting by Antoine de Favray. Every morning Monday to Saturday all along Merchants Street is an open market. As one walks down Merchants Street on the right is another beautiful palace known as La Castellania. This building served as the Law Courts during the time of the Portuguese Grand-masters. On top of this building are two statues signifying Truth and Justice. As one reaches the corner of the street one will see on the corner on the right a small stone stool with a piece of iron at the back - one has to look up as it is about eight feet from street level. This little stone stool is, where the criminals were put for all to see, after they were tried and found guilty. The criminal used to have his hands tied behind his back and people were allowed to throw, eggs, tomatoes and so on. This was not a method of torture but more of humiliation. Down the steps was a prison.
Back to Republic street where one finds a monument representing the Great Siege of 1565. The three statues next to each other signify Courage, Freedom and Religion. It was sculptured by our Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino. Opposite this monument is a beautiful building with columns which today serves as our Law Courts.
On the corner Republic Street and St John's street is our National Museum and Museum of Archaeology, where one can admire the many original altars which were excavated in our megalithic temples as well as many interesting objects that were found in the temples, urns, vases, jewelry etc.
Further down
the road are the open-air cafes. In the middle of the square is a
statue of Queen Victoria, which is the work of the Italian
sculptor Valenti in Rome for her golden jubilee. At the back of
the square is the Bibliotheka. This was the last important
building of the Knights of the Order of St John. It was designed
by the Italian architect Stefano Ittar. Today it houses our
national archives and amongst other things are the archives of
the Knights of the Order of St John dating back to the 11th
century.
Then
there is the Grand Masters Palace. Today the Palace houses the
offices of the President, the Ambassadorial Rooms, the State
Rooms, the Tapestry Chamber, where one can admire a set of
Flemish tapestries, which were a gift from Grandmaster Perellos.
These tapestries show exotic plants and animals from central and
south America and were done from paintings by Rubens. They are
considered amongst the best tapestries in the world. The Tapestry
Chamber previously housed our Parliament, but a larger place has
been built for our Parliament today. This is also housed in the
Palace but on the other side. The Palace also houses the Armory
and during the reign of Grandmaster Pinto there were enough
armaments for 25000 men. Today in the Armory there are 6000
pieces of armour, all of which have played part of history. The
Palace is the work of the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar.
Above the Palace is the Signal Station which gives information on
the strength of wind and regulates the ships in the harbors.
During the time of the Knights of the Order of St John there was
a law which said that no building could be higher than the Signal
Station above the Grandmasters Palace in Valletta. To this day no
building is higher than the Signal Station on top of the Palace.
Opposite the Grandmasters Palace is a building, where during the British rule, we had our Changing of the Guards. In the same square is a monument remembering 7th June 1919 - one of the few times when there was an upheaval in the country during the British rule. The Maltese wanted self-government. A revolt followed and some Maltese were shot by the British. Malta, was in fact, the very first country within the British Empire to be granted self-government. By the wall of the Palace are three marble plaques. The first one on the left shows when Malta became independent in 1964. In the middle the plaque reminds us of when the last British troops left the Maltese Islands on the 31st March 1979 and the one on the right is when Malta became a republic, i.e. ten years after Malta became independent, in 1974.
On the left hand side of the Palace are two other marble plaques, one shows when Malta was awarded the George cross by King George VI. This is the highest award of merit, which can be given by a British sovereign to a nation. It was given to the Maltese for their courage and bravery during the second world war. Further is another letter in marble to the Maltese for their bravery during the second world war but this time from the American President Franklin Roosevelt.
At the bottom of Republic Street is Fort St Elmo. This was the first Fort to capitulate during the Great Siege of 1565. Today it houses our second-world war museum, where one can also admire the George Cross medal. Our Police Academy is also housed in Fort St Elmo. Fort St Elmo was built in 1552 in the shape of a star with four points. The film Midnight Express was shot in this Fort.
To the left one can enjoy a splendid view of the Grand Harbor. From the outside one can see the Hospital of the Knights, which in 1979 was turned into the Mediterranean Conference Center and where one can enjoy the Malta Experience - an audio visual show about Malta from the earliest times (Stone-age man) to the present day.
Further on are the Lower Barracca Gardens. In these gardens is a monument with columns dedicated to Sir Alexander Ball. Sir Alexander Ball was the first de facto Governor and he was greatly respected by the Maltese, so much so that they built this very monument in his honor out of their own pockets. Sir Alexander Ball is buried in Fort St Elmo.
In St Paul's Street and one can admire the beautiful church dedicated to St Paul's Shipwreck, which celebrates its feast on February 10. This feast is celebrated with great pomp.
Another
beautiful building in Valletta today houses our Museum of Fine
arts. This building is one of the oldest in Valletta. In its
present form it was built between 1761 and 1765. In 1808 Louis
Charles the Vicount of Beaujolais and his brother Louis Philippe,
Duke of Orleans were accommodated in this palace. The Viscount of
Beaujolais died here. In 1961 it was handed back to the Maltese
Government and once again restored to its former splendor. Here
one can admire pictures, sculptures, furniture and other objects
dating back to the Order of St John.
Also worthy of mention in Valletta is St Paul's Anglican Cathedral. This church was built where before the German Auberge stood. The Cathedral was built between 1839 and 1842. It was financed by Queen Adelaide. She was the consort of King William IV. Queen Adelaide was convalescing here in Malta. At the time, the financing of the cathedral cost 2000 pounds. It has a neo-Gothic spire, one of the few fine examples of Gothic on the Island. One must point that most of the churches and chapels in Malta are built in Baroque Style.
In Valletta one also finds the Manoel Theater. This theater was built during the rule of Grandmaster Manoel de Vilhena. It is one of the oldest theaters in Europe that is still intact. It is an elegant theater and similar in style to La Scala in Milan. A few doors up the road from the Manoel Theater in Old Theater Street is the church dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This was the first Parish Church to be built in Valletta and was designed by Girolamo Cassar. During the second world war it was badly damaged and so a larger church was built, designed by Joseph d'Amato, a Maltese architect. Here one can admire paintings by Cali, Preti and d'Arena.
As one leaves the main gates of Valletta one sees the main bus station. From here all the buses leave regularly to every town and every village. The Triton Fountain in the center was designed by our Maltese sculptor Vincent Apap approximately 50 years ago.