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Top Attractions in Valletta

Castellania

The Castellania , officially known as Castellania Palace , is a former courthouse and prison in Valletta, Malta. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1757 and 1760, on the site of an earlier courthouse which had been built in 1572. The building was built in the Baroque style to designs of the architects Francesco Zerafa and Giuseppe Bonici. It is a prominent building in Merchants Street, having an ornate façade with an elaborate marble centrepiece. Features of the interior include a former court hall, a chapel, prison cells, a statue of Lady Justice at the main staircase and an ornate fountain in the courtyard. From the late 18th to the early 19th century, the building was also known by a number of names, including the Palazzo del Tribunale, the Palais de Justice and the Gran Corte della Valletta. By the mid-19th century the building was deemed too small, and the courts were gradually moved to Auberge d'Auvergne between 1840 and 1853. The Castellania was then abandoned, before being briefly converted into an exhibition centre, a tenant house and a school. In 1895, the building was converted into the head office of the Public Health Department. The department was eventually succeeded by Malta's health ministry (currently known as the Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Community Care), which is still housed in the Castellania. The building's ground floor contains a number of shops, while Sir Themistocles Zammit's laboratory on the second floor is open to the public by appointment as The Brucellosis Museum.

St John's Square

St. Johns Square is found in front of St Johns Co-Cathedral in Valletta, the capital of Malta. It features several outdoor cafés, surrounded by a graceful arcade. In the middle of the square, facing the parvis and entrance to the Cathedral, there is a small monument to former Prime Minister of Malta Enrico Mizzi, sculpted in 1964 by Vincent Apap . To the left and right of the Cathedral entrance, are the Lion and Unicorn fountains, sculpted out of the native limestone by Maltese sculptor Mariano Gerada, which originally featured water transported to Valletta from the highlands around Mdina by means of an aqueduct developed by Grandmaster Alof de Wignacourt. Although this pjazza is today a favourite meeting place in the heart of Maltas baroque capital city, its origins are relatively recent. It did not form part of the original plans of the city, as drafted by the Knights architect, Francesco Laparelli. Prior to the Second World War, two large apartment buildings with street-level store fronts stood on this location, divided by the narrow street then referred to as Strada San Zaccaria . However, these buildings suffered massive damage due to aerial bombardment during the War. During the reconstruction years following the War, the Government of Malta requisitioned the central portion of both these buildings, to create the square that exists today. St. Johns Square is one of the few "green" areas in Valletta, as it features several large ficus trees that were planted along the facade of the Cathedral in the 1920s. A recent decision to remove some, or all of these trees due to the potential damage that their roots might cause to the Cathedrals priceless marble floors, has been met with considerable public outcry. Curiously, these trees are considered an important bird area for the White Wagtail, which migrate from European breeding grounds every year to spend the winter in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and northeastern Africa. This decision is being challenged by, among others, the Valletta Rehabilitation Project, whose executive co-ordinator has been quoted as saying: "St Johns is mostly built on solid rock, so there are no vaults through which the roots could penetrate the church as has been suggested."

Upper Barrakka Gardens

The Upper Barrakka Gardens are a public garden in Valletta, Malta. They are twinned with the Lower Barrakka Gardens in the same city, and offers a panoramic view of the Grand Harbour. The gardens are located on the upper tier of St. Peter & Paul Bastion, which was built in the 1560s. The bastion's lower tier contains the Saluting Battery. The garden's terraced arches were built in 1661 by the Italian knight Fra Flaminio Balbiani. They were originally roofed, but the ceiling was removed following the Rising of the Priests in 1775. The gardens were originally used to offer recreation to the knights of the Italian langue of the Order of Saint John, but were opened to the public following the end of the French occupation of Malta in 1800. In the park there are several monuments and memorials to a number of prominent people, including Gerald Strickland, Sir Thomas Maitland and Sir Winston Churchill. A replica of the statue Les Gavroches by the Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino is also located in the garden. The original is to be found within the National Museum of Fine Arts. It is the highest point of the city walls, and thus its bordering terrace offers a clear view over the Grand Harbour, the Three Cities, as well as over the shipyard and the lower-lying parts the capital. The gardens are linked to Valletta's ditch and the nearby Lascaris Wharf by the Barrakka Lift. The first lift on the site was built in 1905, but was closed in 1973 and dismantled in 1983. The new lift was inaugurated on 15 December 2012.

City Gate

City Gate is a gate located at the entrance of Valletta, Malta. The present gate, which is the fifth one to have stood on the site, was built between 2011 and 2014 to designs of the Italian architect Renzo Piano. The first gate which stood on the site was Porta San Giorgio, which was built in 1569 to designs of either Francesco Laparelli or Girolamo Cassar. The gate was renamed Porta Reale in around 1586, before being rebuilt in 1633, probably to designs of Tommaso Dingli. It was briefly renamed Porte Nationale during the French occupation of Malta in 1798, but its name reverted back to Porta Reale when Malta fell under British rule in 1800. In 1853, this was once again replaced by a larger gate, which was also known as Kingsgate. These first three gates were all fortified, forming part of Valletta's city walls. The gate was also informally called the Porta di terra since it was the only landward approach to the city. The last fortified gate was demolished in 1964, being replaced by a Futurist gate designed by Alziro Bergonzo. This gate was then demolished in 2011, and it was replaced by Piano's gate which was completed in 2014.

Il-Belt Valletta

Valletta is the capital city of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. Geographically, it is located in the South Eastern Region, in the central-eastern portion of the main island of Malta having its western coast with access to the Marsamxett Harbour and its eastern coast in the Grand Harbour. The historical city has a population of 6,444 as of March 2014, while the metropolitan area around it has a population of 393,938. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe and the second southernmost capital of the European Union after Nicosia. Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John also known as Knights Hospitaller. The city is essentially Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture in selected areas, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. The official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta—The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The city's fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains and cavaliers, along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima—Most Proud.

Admiralty House

Admiralty House, formerly known as Casa Miari, Palazzo Don Raimondo and by several other names, is a palace in Valletta, Malta. It was originally built in 1569–70 as two private houses by Fra Jean de Soubiran dit Arafat, a knight of the Order of St. John. The houses were later leased to various owners, including Fra Raimondo de Sousa y Silva, who rebuilt them a single residence between 1761 and 1763. In 1808, Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais was received at the house, where he died of tuberculosis. From 1821 to 1961, the building was the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, hence its name. Since 1974, the Admiralty House has been open to the public as the National Museum of Fine Arts, but there are plans to transfer the museum to Auberge d'Italie.
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