Valletta

Valletta

The Great Siege of MaltaThe Knights Hospitalliers of St. John of Jerusalem arrived in Malta from Rhodes on the 26th October 1530. The Grand Master at the time was Philippe Villieres de l’Isle-Adam. The order soon turned Malta into a naval base because of its strategic position at the centre of the Mediterranean. At that time Malta was also frequently under attack by the Barbary Corsairs. During such a siege, virtually the entire population of Gozo (approximately 5,000) were taken into captivity.

The Knights, under the reign of the Grand Master Juan de Homedes started expecting another Ottoman invasion in the near future, so in 1552 Fort St. Angelo at the tip of Birgu was strengthened and two new forts were built. Fort St. Michael in Senglea and Fort St. Elmo on Mount Sceberras (now Valletta) were built in a relatively short period of time.

In the meantime, the battles between the Christians and the muslim Ottomans continued at sea in the Mediterranean. It soon became clear that Malta was going to be attacked again so Jean de Valette ordered all the knights to return to Malta immediately.

Elderly people were sent to Sicily. All crops, including unripened grain were harvested to deprive the enemy of any local food supplies and the knights poisoned all wells with bitter herbs and dead animals.

At dawn on Friday 18th May, the Turkish Armada anchored at Marsaxlokk harbour and the siege began in earnest. The bombardment was unremitting and most of the island was turned to rubble within a

Valletta

week. The siege was a really frightening event. The Turkish leader Mustafa had the bodies of the fallen knights decapitated and their bodies floated in the harbour on mock crucifixes. In response, de Valette decapitated all his Turkish prisoners and fired their heads into the Turkish camp with a cannon.

Eventually help arrived from Sicily and the Turks were forced to flee to their ships and left the island on the 11th September 1565. Malta had survived the Turkish assault but was left destroyed with its villages burnt to the ground and the people’s morale at a very low level.

The knights had lost a third of their number and Malta had lost a third of its inhabitants. Birgu and Senglea were levelled. However, 9000 Christians, most of them Maltese, had managed to withstand a siege of more than four months in the hot summer despite enduring a bombardment of some 130,000 cannon balls.

After the siege, Grand Master La Valette decided that the building of a new city could serve as a positive motivation for the Maltese and even the knights. He asked for the help of Pope Pius V and many European Kings. Pope Pius V sent his architect and military engineer Francesco Laparelli to draw up the plans for the new city. He designed the new city on a rectangular grid without any collacchio and the streets were designed to be wide and straight beginning centrally from City Gate and ending at Fort St. Elmo.

Work on the new city continued at a fast rate and many important building were designed and supervised by the Maltese architect Gerolamo Cassar. These buildings included the Sacra Infermeria, St. John’s Church, the Magisterial Palace and the seven Auberges, one for each language of the knights. By the 16th century Valletta had grown into a sizeable city and people from all parts of the island flocked to live within its safely restored fortifications. People who decided to build houses in Valletta had to abide by various rules amongst others:

No steps in front of the houses. No gardens at the front or on the inside of the

houses. Sculptures and ornaments to decorate street

corners. Buildings had to be finished and occupied within six

months.

The site known as the Manderaggio in the Marsamxett harbour side of Valletta was originally intended as a galley port for the order’s navy. The area was to be excavated down to sea level to create an artificial basin. However, works were interrupted when the excavation hit an impenetrable rock layer. When this project was abandoned, the

area was soon taken over by the poor and transformed into an over-populated shanty town. About 2500 people, mostly unemployed and living off criminal activities, inhabited the 2.56 acres of land. Very few outsiders ventured into its streets and visitors described it as “the most concentrated and intense slum in the world”.

La Valette died in 1568 and was succeeded by Pietro del Monte who led the Knights from their previous lodgings in Birgu to the new city of Valletta.

Auberges Before the knights came to Malta they had auberges in England but in 1530 they came

to Malta and built auberges in birgu. After the siege the knights started framing city Valletta. Also a collachio (a place for the knights only) was to be built in the new city of Valletta

but the plan didn’t work.

The knights managed to build the following auberges:

1. The auberges of Italy -Located at the beginning of Merchant Street, just down from the Auberge de Castille. Here come the Knights resided from Language of Italy. Today the building serves as the office of the Malta Tourism Authority.

2. The auberges of avern- It was destroyed by the bombs from the Second World War but now it is the court.

3. Auberges de castile-It was built in the 1500 and designed in the 1700 with the baroque style and today it is officially the office of the prime minister.

4. Auberge of Germany - unloaded to its place was built the Anglican Cathedral of St. Paul.

5. Au Berge de Provence- in Republic Street today is the National Museum of Archaeology.

6. Auberge d'Aragon - at Independence Square, the only one that remained as made Gerolamo Cassar.

7. Auberge de France - a bomb dropped in World War II, before there was a Department of Education, now ascended the building of the General Workers' Union.

Mandraġġ-Manderaggio

When the blueprints for Valletta were drawn, the roads were planned in the shape of a grid. The building stones were dug from the Manderaggio but when the stone got harder the work stopped. In case of attacks with ships the ships of St John’s knights where put in their but this never happened. The buildings of Valletta created a lot of jobs for the Maltese. The Maltese used to live near the nature but they had to leave to be nearer to their new jobs and so went to live in the Manderaggio where two families with their children used to live in just one room. In the Manderaggio there were two main roads’ Strada Manderaggio’ and ‘Strada San Giorgio’. Mintoff demolished these ugly houses and built government flats.

Manoel Theatre

Grandmaster Manuel de Vilhena was a person that loved the theatre so before each activity in the theatre he used to grab a handful of coins and throw them to the audience. This theatre was for everyone, every social class. It was built in 1731 till 1732. In this theatre concerts and operas are still held in this theatre till know. This building was built to serve as a Public Theatre "for the honest recreation of the people". This motto was inscribed

above the main entrance to the theatre, which still reads today: "ad honestam populi oblectationem". This theatre is the eldest theatre in Europe. It is still held in a good condition and is still working.

Kastellanija

Justice has always been a priority even when the Knights of St John so the Kastellanija was built to serve as a court. The Grandmaster Manoel Pinto de Fonseca built this court. It was built in road Merkanti. Francesco Zerafa was the person charged as architecture. On the door there are two statues, one as a symbol of justice and the other as a symbol of goodness. Today this place is used as the Minister of Health.

 The Palace of the Grand Masters. Nowadays, Maltese parliament meets there and the offices of the president is present. There the armory hall, which houses the armor of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt gilded with gold. The Palace of the Grand Masters was designed and built by Cassar Glormu . Contains two entrances Doric. The wooden balconies worked within the Grandmaster Manuel Pinto. Below were the stables, the caroselles, kitchens, maids' rooms and stores. There we find the Mori clock which is made from bronze. In 1710 Perellos bought a set of from the Belgian capital, Arras. In 1921, the Maltese parliament used to meet in the room containing the tapestries.

The Conventual Church of St John In Valletta, the Collachio planned but this did not materialize because the building was spread to all over the city. The Order of St. John had the church reserved for them where only they have access to it. In the Co-Cathedral we find seven hundred memorials, a chapel for every language, including that of Italy, France, Germany and Portugal. Outside it is in a Mannerist style (renaissance) and Baroque inside. La Cassiere paid for the construction of the church and the plants were done by Glormu Cassar. The Grandmaster Nicolas Cotoner hired the Neapolitan artist Mattia Preti to design the roof. The church is gilded with gold (24 carat). In the oratory, we find the beheading of Saint John by Caravaggio. The Sacra Infermeria-The general hospital of the knights. It was the Order's hospital so that in case of any attacks, there is a cure for a majority of wounds. There were two thousand beds and a bedside drawer for you. It was accessible for men only. It is located near Fort St. Elmo and the Southern Barrakka. Erected within Pietro Del Monte since November 1573. Tere is a genuine purpose for why it was built so near the sea; that is in case of an attack the injured could flee immediately from there. The Sacra Infermeria was one of the best hospitals in the Mediterranean where the best medicine of that time was used.

The Victory Church

On the 28th March 1566, the first stone of Valletta was placed precisely in the location of. This church is located near the Auberge de Castille.

Lower and Upper Barrakka

Both Barrakka’s were used as gardens where the knights could have spent their free time.Both barrakkas have great views where one can see the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barrakka ( Birgu, Bormla and Isla). From the lower Barrakka you can see the Marsamxett Harbour. While they’re enjoying their free time they can see whether the Turkish are coming or not.

Conclusion

The Population started to increase and Grand Master de Paule, decided that it’d be best if residents went to live at Paolaand to encourage them he promised to forgive debts. The most important roads are san Giorgio’s Road and Mercahants Street. Pinto had a place where he stored wheat (Pinto Wharf) Nowadays its where we know it as Valletta Waterfront. Valletta has been declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO and in 2018 it is going to be the capital of culture for Europe. We should be really proud of Valletta because it is decorated by beroque and it has a magnificiant story. Renzo piano said that who tries to listen Valletta’s story he has loads to listen to.