When was valletta malta founded

These sights, along with Valletta's status as European Capital of Culture for , have seen the city reborn, with new museums, restored golden-stone fortresses, and new hotels, bars and restaurants in 16th-century mansions. Valletta's outskirts are also worth a visit. Take the beautiful ferry trip to the Three Cities or visit the astounding prehistoric Hal Saflieni Hypogeum.

The well-preserved and beautiful Cabreo de Vilhena at the National Library shows the siting of water reservoirs underneath a variety of buildings around Valletta. The one on the Republic Street side has a narrow passageway that leads to a further, bigger reservoir almost abutting on Republic Street.

This is three storeys high and is full of tree roots Those trees planted by the British some years ago, and also those in the Public Library square, are doing great harm to building foundations. This looks like an underground cathedral some four storeys high. This underground cistern saw the light of day during the Republic Street repaving works in when the workers broke through part of it and a huge hole appeared. The hole was expertly covered by the Valletta Rehabilitation Project.

It is also noteworthy to add that the arches in the cistern show the architectural style of the 16th century, in this case subtly pointed arches. Bishop Cagliares built the palace during the reign of Grand Master Vasconcellos. That was the time when the knights wanted Valletta all to themselves but the bishop wanted to be present there as well.

The knights did not want the bishop to build a palace in Valletta but he appealed to the Pope, who decreed that the bishop could have his palace in Valletta but the dungeons were to remain in Vittoriosa. It is surrounded by a high wall and, under the wall, by a quarry-like wall of rock, a sunken garden of peace and tranquillity in the middle of the city.

One of these cisterns was used as a control room during the war. In , Grand Master Wignacourt brought much-needed water to Valletta through the aqueduct. That necessitated more digging in Strada San Giorgio today Republic Street so that the fresh water that came down from Rabat could reach the fountain in Palace Square. The splendid fountain, much missed in Palace Square, is shorn of its top tier and is in the Argotti Gardens today. But the largest reservoir in Valletta is the one at St Elmo.

It is so big one can only cross it in a boat and it must be at least metres long. The Carapecchia detailed inventory shows that extra care was taken around the top opening of the cisterns. This was built slanted so that bombs could conceivably bounce of the incline and not penetrate inside it.

Mention has been made of a number of pits excavated close to Saint Barbara bastion for the storage of ice, which was brought over from Sicily and used by the Knights at the nearby Sacra Infermeria. The Carapecchia designs also show the fissures in the rock base, which explains why some people to this day complain they do not know where all the rainwater collected in their cisterns goes, as it seems to somehow find its way out of the cistern.

Apart from the reservoirs, the military tunnels, the sewage system and the charnel houses underneath the churches, Valletta also has many granaries — those at St Elmo have 70 pits and others at Castille The Castille granaries are still there, all 15 of them, but they were blocked when the bus terminus was sited there.

It is a pity that the plans to resurface Castille did not include bringing them back to light but rather seem to suggest their continued burial. Soon after the British came to Malta, a cholera plague broke out in and thousands died. The British found out that this was caused because drinking water was contaminated by sewage. The result of careful investigations was that all the Valletta sewers were thoroughly overhauled and a full survey was carried out.

The overhaul included the Mandragg, the space reserved for the Mandracchio, the unfinished harbour planned by the knights. A huge hole was the result but this was soon built in by a maze of streets and alleys and tenements for the poor, like a scene out of Charles Dickens.

It is true to say that this area attracted the poor and the destitute but maybe it was not as dismal as some describe it. After the war, the authorities levelled it all and constructed the housing estate we see today. The railway running from underneath the Parliament Building formerly Freedom Square to Mtarfa was inaugurated on 1 March The booking office was a building where today the New Parliament building is sited.

People then descended a staircase and boarded the train. The train tunnel served as the Yellow Garage till and now forms part of the subterranean complex of the new Parliament building. There used to be a sloping passageway from the train tunnel to underneath the Opera House but this was destroyed when Freedom Square was enlarged much like destruction of the counterguard when the MCP car park was being built.

One part of the railway tunnel used to partially run underneath the Opera House where there is an enormous cistern that belonged to the original building prior to the theatre. Soon after, as war drew closer, a proposal was made to re-use the tunnel, which extends from the Yellow Garage to near the Argotti in Floriana, as an underground wartime shelter.

When war broke out, a hurried plan was formulated to dig as many underground shelters in Valletta as possible and to use the existing underground infrastructure, as long as the shelter was two storeys underground. With bombs falling, government architects went about their job and minutely surveyed all cisterns, cellars, reservoirs, and so on. As a result, all that were included in the schemes were drained of water and connected to each other, with openings in roads or in private houses, for war was such a big thing that private property was given second consideration.

At the top end of Valletta, underneath the Upper Barrakka and Castille, there is a warren of tunnels and corridors.

The layout suggests that existing counterguard tunnels were used, some modified and other tunnels dug anew. The most famous of these, the Lascaris War Rooms, are open to the public. But there is another, more extensive system of war rooms on the other side. To make your claim, email the relevant hotel on one of the following: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected].

Corinthia Hotels guarantees the best online rate on corinthia. A delicious fusion of old and new, the British colonial footprints are still visible atop the underlying ancient history. Dominated by the almost overbearing cultural legacy of the Knights of St John, who founded the city in to protect Malta from further attack, it was named after Grand Master la Valette, who defended the islands successfully at the Great Siege of Malta in Awarded the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture , Valletta is in a state of flux.

Experiencing a regeneration to highlight its incredible heritage while involving future generations, the city is well on its way to becoming even more culturally relevant.

Old music halls are being converted into wine bars and independent art galleries and boutiques are springing up where once there was only urban decay, as a breath of fresh air blows through the streets of the city. And one of the most famous streets in Valletta is Strait Street which was, until the mid-twentieth Century, the favourite destination of military men who docked in the harbour.

Pay a visit to Strait Street now in the first strains of its gentrification and you will find a hodgepodge collection of trendy little bars like StrEat, Tico Tico, and Trabuxu, which are well worth a drink in. But when you do visit, look out for the famous Caravaggio masterpiece, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, the only piece in existence signed by the artist.

Valletta is a city of contradictions, where the historic and the new-age coexist. Its nomination as Capital of Culture has cemented its legacy and importance in Europe and cast the spotlight onto this small yet powerful island.

Read More. Make the most of your holiday with an indulgent stay at Corinthia Palace. In addition, the Maltese Government has established a number of national entities to ensure that its aims of conservation and rehabilitation of Valletta are achieved.

Valletta is a living city. It is the nerve centre of the Maltese political, administrative and business sphere as well as a major tourist attraction.

The day-to-day demands of a modern community exert heavy demands on the institutional bodies entrusted with safeguarding, conserving and enhancing national monuments which are in daily use.

Equally heavy and persistent demands are made on the housing and business premises of the city. To sustain the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, a draft Management Plan for the city was prepared in and the consultation with stakeholders is ongoing. About us.

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