
What’s interesting is that the city came to resemble an Italian religious community, as well as aspects of Ottoman and North African influences that the knights had seen on their journeys. The new city was to be called Valletta in honor of La Valette. First on, the bastions and, soon after, on the more important buildings. His idea was to build the city, both as a fortress in order to defend Christendom and as an architectural jewel. This is a portion of land in between the island’s two natural harbors, known as the Marsamxett and Valletta harbors.īoth Pope Pius V showed interest in the project, so he sent his foremost engineer, Francesco Laparelli. Valletta Malta was built on what used to be known as Mount Sciberras. In fact, this was one of the first European cities to be constructed on a new site. Therefore, he drew up a plan for a late Renaissance Valletta, Malta, consisting of a grid system within fortified and bastioned city walls, on what was a mostly vacant lot. This is because, La Valette quickly realized that if the Order was going to retain its grasp on Malta, it had to build adequate defenses. That is, after the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights began their Valletta project in Malta, intending to build a so-called ‘city built by gentlemen for gentlemen’. Malta was the very first place the Order could call home after numerous years of wandering the Mediterranean in the name of Christianity. This capital city came into existence thanks to the Knights of St John, u nder Grand master Jean Parisot de la Valette who had been given Malta by the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, Charles V. Here we will be looking at the main attractions derived from the history of Valletta, Malta.


It contains a vast array of majestic fortifications, stunning baroque buildings, lavish palaces, magnificent churches, grand theaters and striking gardens. This is reflected in the treasure trove of architectural splendor that is Valletta, Malta. When one speaks of Valletta Malta, the first thought that comes to mind is of a place firmly embedded in rich military history as well as history connected to the Knights of St. Valletta is the fortified capital city of Malta, and a World Heritage site.
