BY Francesca If you wander down to the Marsamxett side of Valletta, close to Fort St Elmo and the Breakwater Bridge, you’ll find the former Auberge de Baviere. It didn’t start out as a knights’ hostel, in fact, it was originally a palazzo. The private residence of the Portuguese Balì, (Balì was an official title) Fra Gaspare […]
BY Francesca Situated on Republic Street in Valletta, not too far from Renzo Piano’s City Gate and the Old Opera Ruins, is the Auberge de Provence. As you might expect from a military order, the Knights of St John were a well organised bunch. The knights grouped their members by language and culture into administrative groups, called […]
BY Francesca Taking pride of place at Valletta’s highest point, the Auberge de Castille sits at the top of the bastions overlooking Floriana and the Grand Harbour. It’s a splending building, majestic and dignified, and like many of the older buildings in the city, it bears the fingerprints of the knightly order that once called Malta its […]
BY Francesca A 10-minute walk from Auberge de Baviere, moving across the fortifications with the view of Tigne Point to your left and the Breakwater to your right, will take you to the magnificent Fort St Elmo and its adjacent Granaries. Essentially, the Granaries are huge underground silos that were cut in rock following orders of the […]
BY Francesca Opera House Ruins – Pjazza Teatru Rjal The site of the former Valletta Royal Opera House is also the subject of one of the most heated controversial debates that ever gripped the Maltese Islands, dividing artists, politicians and the entire Maltese population over the Renzo Piano Open Theatre design that was unveiled in 2013. But […]
BY vv The Sovereign Military Order of Malta – quite the mouthful to pronounce, and also quite difficult for most people to get their head around. The SMOM, as it’s more commonly referred to, maintains an embassy within St John’s Cavalier, located right opposite Hastings Gardens in Valletta. The SMOM Embassy is not usually open to the […]
BY vv City Gate and Parliament Square – also known as Renzo Piano’s triumph. Or his blight, depending who you ask, as the Maltese have stayed pretty divided on the topic. We will allow you to judge for yourself as you meander around the area, maybe comparing photos of the old City Gate and Freedom Square with […]
BY vv St George’s Square holds a number of Valletta landmarks, from the Mainguard to the Sette Giugno Monument and the Grandmaster’s Palace right opposite. One less obvious attraction is the Fontana dell’Aquila, occupying the furthest corner of the square, overlooking Archbishop Street. The fountain is notable for its beautiful stonework, featuring a huge gargoyle in the […]
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