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Valletta

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement Valletta (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Template:Langx, Template:IPA) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As Malta’s capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe,<ref>Valletta, Malta – Intercultural City – Council of Europe</ref>Template:NoteTag and at just Template:Convert, it is the European Union's smallest capital city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after the Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island against an Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege of Malta. The city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The city was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.<ref name=unesco>Template:Cite web</ref> The city has 320 monuments, all within an area of 0.55 square kilometres (0.21 sq mi), making it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.<ref name=unesco/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sometimes called an "open-air museum",<ref>Valletta (Malta) – The Complete Overview of Malta's Capital City – maltauncovered.com</ref> Valletta was chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2018. Valletta was also listed as the sunniest city in Europe in 2016.<ref>Valletta is crowned the sunniest city in Europe Template:Webarchive – bay.com.mt, 2016</ref><ref>Sunniest Cities in Europe – currentresults.com, 2016</ref>

The city is noted for its fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains and cavaliers, along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches.

History

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File:Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Merkanti 12 ies.jpg
Former mural at Is-Suq tal-Belt illustrating the city's construction

The peninsula was previously called Xagħret Mewwija (Mu' awiya – Meuia; named during the Arab period<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or Ħal Newwija.<ref>p. 21, footnote 163 Template:Webarchive.</ref> Mewwija refers to a sheltered place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some authors state that the extreme end of the peninsula was known as Xebb ir-Ras (Sheb point), of which name origins from the lighthouse on site.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="BRILL">Template:Cite book</ref> A family which surely owned land became known as Sceberras, now a Maltese surname as Sciberras.<ref>de Piro.</ref> At one point the entire peninsula became known as Sceberras. Template:Quote box Recent scholarly studies have however shown that the Xeberras phrase is of Punic origin and means 'the headland' and 'the middle peninsula' as it actually is.<ref name="Article">Template:Cite web</ref>

Order of Saint John

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File:DetalleSiegeMalta.jpg
The Ottoman army bombs the Knights' Three Cities from the peninsula of Sciberras during the 1565 Great Siege.
File:Malte, La Valette, co-cathédrale St Jean.jpg
The nave of Saint John's Co-Cathedral
File:Grandmaster's palace, Valletta.jpg
Grandmaster's Palace
File:GrandHarbourValletta1801.jpg
Valletta and the Grand Harbour Template:Circa

The building of a city on the Sciberras Peninsula had been proposed by the Order of Saint John as early as 1524.<ref name=about>Template:Cite web</ref> Back then, the only building on the peninsula was a small watchtower<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> dedicated to Erasmus of Formia (Saint Elmo), which had been built in 1488.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1552, the Aragonese watchtower was demolished and the larger Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place.<ref name="cityhistory">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Order's position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island. The city took his name and was called La Valletta.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Grand Master asked the European kings and princes for help, receiving a lot of assistance due to the increased fame of the Order after their victory in the Great Siege. Pope Pius V sent his military architect, Francesco Laparelli, to design the new city, while Philip II of Spain sent substantial monetary aid. The foundation stone of the city was laid by Grand Master de Valette on 28 March 1566. He placed the first stone in what later became Our Lady of Victories Church.<ref name="journal">Template:Cite book</ref>

In his book Dell'Istoria della Sacra Religione et Illustrissima Militia di San Giovanni Gierosolimitano (Template:Langx), written between 1594 and 1602, Giacomo Bosio writes that when the cornerstone of Valletta was placed, a group of Maltese elders said: "Iegi zimen en fel wardia col sceber raba iesue uquie" (Which in modern Maltese reads, "Jiġi żmien li fil-Wardija [l-Għolja Sciberras] kull xiber raba' jiswa uqija", and in English, "There will come a time when every piece of land on Sciberras Hill will be worth its weight in gold").<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74 and never saw the completion of his city. Originally interred in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, his remains now rest in St. John's Co-Cathedral among the tombs of other Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta.<ref name="journal"/>

Francesco Laparelli was the city's principal designer and his plan departed from medieval Maltese architecture, which exhibited irregular winding streets and alleys. He designed the new city on a rectangular grid plan, and without any collacchio (an area restricted for important buildings). The streets were designed to be wide and straight, beginning centrally from the City Gate and ending at Fort Saint Elmo (which was rebuilt) overlooking the Mediterranean; certain bastions were built Template:Convert high. His assistant was the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who later oversaw the construction of the city himself after Laparelli's death in 1570.<ref name="journal"/>

The Ufficio delle Case regulated the building of the city as a planning authority.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The city of Valletta was mostly completed by the early 1570s, and it became the capital on 18 March 1571 when Grand Master Pierre de Monte moved from his seat at Fort St Angelo in Birgu to the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta.

File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Malta.jpg
Turner's depiction of the Grand Harbour, National Museum of Fine Arts

Seven Auberges were built for the Order's Langues, and these were complete by the 1580s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> An eighth Auberge, Auberge de Bavière, was later added in the 18th century.<ref name="melitensiawth-phw">Template:Cite journal</ref>

In Antoine de Paule's reign, it was decided to build more fortifications to protect Valletta, and these were named the Floriana Lines after the architect who designed them, Pietro Paolo Floriani of Macerata.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During António Manoel de Vilhena's reign, a town began to form between the walls of Valletta and the Floriana Lines, and this evolved from a suburb of Valletta to Floriana, a town in its own right.<ref name="armstrong">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1634, a gunpowder factory explosion killed 22 people in Valletta.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1749, Muslim slaves plotted to kill Grandmaster Pinto and take over Valletta, but the revolt was suppressed before it even started due to their plans leaking out to the Order.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Later on in his reign, Pinto embellished the city with Baroque architecture, and many important buildings such as Auberge de Castille were remodeled or completely rebuilt in the new architectural style.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1775, during the reign of Ximenes, an unsuccessful revolt known as the Rising of the Priests occurred in which Fort Saint Elmo and Saint James Cavalier were captured by rebels, but the revolt was eventually suppressed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

French occupation and British rule

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File:Malta GC. Valletta-1967 (8240967236).jpg
Early morning in 1967 on the notorious Strait Street known to generations of British Servicemen (especially to sailors on shore leave) as "The Gut". Bars and bordellos abounded, and brawls were common, but its popularity never waned.

In 1798, the French invaded the island and expelled the Order.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> After the Maltese rebelled, French troops continued to occupy Valletta and the surrounding harbour area, until they capitulated to the British in September 1800. In the early 19th century, the British Civil Commissioner, Henry Pigot, agreed to demolish the majority of the city's fortifications.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The demolition was again proposed in the 1870s and 1880s, but it was never carried out and the fortifications have survived largely intact.<ref name=about/>

Eventually building projects in Valletta resumed under British rule. These projects included widening gates, demolishing and rebuilding structures, widening newer houses over the years, and installing civic projects. The Malta Railway, which linked Valletta to Mdina, was officially opened in 1883.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was closed down in 1931 after buses became a popular means of transport.

In 1939, Valletta was abandoned as the headquarters of the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet due to its proximity to Italy and the city became a flash point during the subsequent two-year long Siege of Malta.<ref name="Jacobs2016">Template:Cite book</ref> German and Italian air raids throughout the Second World War caused much destruction in Valletta and the rest of the harbor area. The Royal Opera House, constructed at the city entrance in the 19th century, was one of the buildings lost to the raids.<ref name="cityhistory"/>

Contemporary

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In 1980, the 24th Chess Olympiad took place in Valletta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The entire city of Valletta has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, along with Megalithic Temples of Malta and the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni.<ref name=unesco/><ref name="olivergatt"/> On 11 November 2015, Valletta hosted the Valletta Summit on Migration in which European and African leaders discussed the European migrant crisis.<ref name=statewatch>Template:Cite web</ref> After that, on 27 November 2015, the city also hosted part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Valletta was the European Capital of Culture in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

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File:Castille at night.jpg
Auberge de Castille at night
File:Parliament House (Malta).jpeg
Renzo Piano's Parliament House

Local government

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The Valletta Local Council was established by the Local Councils Act of 1993, along with the other local councils of Malta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first election was held on 20 November 1993. Other elections were held in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The present local council was elected in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The local council is housed in a building in South Street.

The following people have served as Mayors of Valletta:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

National government

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Valletta is the capital city of Malta,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is the country's administrative and commercial hub.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Parliament of Malta has been housed at the Parliament House near the city's entrance since 2015: it was previously housed at the Grandmaster's Palace in the city centre.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The latter palace still houses the Office of the President of Malta,<ref name="president">Template:Cite web</ref> while the Auberge de Castille houses the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. The courthouse and many government departments are also located in Valletta.<ref name="nicpmi">Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

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File:Prelucrare 3D pentru La Valletta Harbour.jpg
Valletta between its two harbours

The Valletta peninsula has two natural harbours, Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour.<ref name="olivergatt">Template:Cite book</ref> The Grand Harbour is Malta's major port, with unloading quays at nearby Marsa. A cruise-liner terminal is located along the old seawall of the Valletta Waterfront that Portuguese Grandmaster Manuel Pinto da Fonseca built.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Climate

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Template:Main Valletta features a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with very mild, wet winters and warm to hot, slightly long, dry summers, with an average annual temperature above Template:Convert during the day and Template:Convert. Valletta experiences a lack of precipitation during the summer months and most of the precipitation happens during the winter months. Winter temperatures are moderated by the surrounding sea, as a result, the city has very mild winters and a long seasonal lag. The official climate recording station in Malta is at Luqa Airport, which is a few miles inland from Valletta. Average high temperatures range from around Template:Convert in January to about Template:Convert in August, while average low temperatures range from around Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in August.

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Cityscape

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File:Valletta Lower Barrakka gardens Malta 2014 2.jpg
Lower Barrakka Gardens and its monument of remembrance

The architecture of Valletta's streets and piazzas ranges from mid-16th century Baroque to Modernism. The city is the island's principal cultural center and has a unique collection of churches, palaces and museums and act as one of the city's main visitor attractions. When Benjamin Disraeli, future British Prime Minister, visited the city in 1830, he described it as "a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen," and remarked that "Valletta equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe," and in other letters called it "comparable to Venice and Cádiz" and "full of palaces worthy of Palladio."<ref name="MaltaExpo">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Collectables">Template:Cite web</ref>

Buildings of historic importance include St John's Co-Cathedral, formerly the Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta. It has the only signed work and largest painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.<ref name="Patrick2007">Template:Cite book</ref> The Auberge de Castille et Leon, formerly the official seat of the Knights of Malta of the Langue of Castille, Léon and Portugal, is now the office of the Prime Minister of Malta.<ref name="nicpmi"/> The Grandmaster's Palace, built between 1571 and 1574 and formerly the seat of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, used to house the Maltese Parliament, now situated in a purpose-built structure at the entrance to the city, and now houses the offices of the President of Malta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Admiralty House is a Baroque palace dating to the late 1570s. It was the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the British era from the 1820s onwards. From 1974 until 2016, it was the site of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

The Manoel Theatre (Template:Langx) was constructed in just ten months in 1731, by order of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, and is one of the oldest working theatres in Europe. The Mediterranean Conference Centre was formerly the Sacra Infermeria. Built in 1574, it was one of Europe's most renowned hospitals during the Renaissance. The fortifications of the port, built by the Knights as a magnificent series of bastions, demi-bastions, cavaliers and curtains, approximately Template:Convert high, all contribute to the unique architectural quality of the city.

Neighbourhoods

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File:Valletta, Malta - 2018 (39570984425).jpg
Valletta in the foreground and Fort Saint Elmo at the front
File:St Lazarus Curtain.jpg
Exterior and interior outlines of Valletta

Valletta contains a number of unofficial neighbourhoods, including:<ref name="melitensiawth">Template:Cite journal</ref>

  • Strada Rjali – the main thoroughfare, Triq ir-Repubblika
  • l-Arċipierku – an area close to the Sacra Infermeria. Its name possibly derives from archipelago since it contains a number of lanes which break up the area into many "islands" of houses, or from archi-borgo since the area is located just outside Fort Saint Elmo.<ref name="vallettaactionplan">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • il-Baviera – an area around the English Curtain, bounded by Old Bakery, Archbishop, Marsamxett and St. Sebastian Streets. It is named after Auberge de Bavière.<ref name="vallettaactionplan"/>
  • il-Biċċerija – an area close to il-Baviera, named after the slaughterhouse which was formerly located there.<ref name="vallettaactionplan"/>
  • il-Kamrata – an area close to the Sacra Infermeria. It is named after the Camerata, a spiritual retreat which was demolished in the 19th century and replaced by social housing.<ref name="vallettaactionplan"/>
  • Deux Balles (Template:Langx) – an area close to il-Baviera. The name probably originates from the French occupation.<ref name="vallettaactionplan"/>
  • il-Fossa – an area close to the Jews' Sally Port and Fort Saint Elmo. It is regarded as the worst maintained area of Valletta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Manderaggio (Template:Langx) – an area behind Manderaggio Curtain, bounded by St. Mark, St. Lucia, St. Patrick and Marsamxett Streets. This was meant to be a small harbour (mandracchio) but it was never completed, and a slum area developed instead. The slums were demolished in the 1950s and were rebuilt as housing estates.<ref name="vallettaactionplan"/>

Economy

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Eurostat estimates the labour force in 2015 for the greater Valletta area at around 91,000 people. This corresponds to a share of just under 50 percent of Malta. As in Malta as a whole, tourism is an important economic sector. The most important tourist zone is the area surrounding the Grand Harbour. For the cruise industry, after several years of planning, work began in 2002 to build the Valletta Waterfront Project, a cruise terminal, in the Grand Harbour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There is also a publishing house in Valletta, Allied Newspapers Ltd., a media company. This company publishes the two market-leading newspapers, Times of Malta and The Sunday Times of Malta.

Education

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The Valletta Campus of the University of Malta is situated in the Old University Building. It serves as an extension of the Msida Campus, especially offering international masters programmes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A church school, "St. Albert the Great", is also situated in Valletta. The Headmaster is Alternattiva Demokratika politician Mario Mallia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture

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File:Renzo Piano Pjazza Teatru Rjal.jpeg
Renzo Piano's Pjazza Teatru Rjal on the ruins of the Royal Opera House
File:Saint James Cavalier.jpeg
Saint James Cavalier at night
File:Merchants Street Valletta (80653).jpg
Merchants Street at night, with a statue of Saint Dominic

Valletta was designated European Capital of Culture for 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The year was inaugurated with an event called Erba' Pjazez (Four Squares), with shows focused in 4 plazas in the city – Triton Square, St. George's Square, St. John's Square, and Castille Square – along with other shows in other points.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was followed by the unveiling of a public art installation, Kif Jgħid il-Malti (Maltese Sayings), which featured a number of Maltese language proverb figured in gypsum, in order to engage linguistic heritage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Saint James Cavalier

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Saint James Cavalier, originally a raised gun platform, was converted into a Centre of Creativity in the year 2000 as part of Malta's Millennium Project. It now houses a small theatre, a cinema, music rooms and art galleries. Various exhibitions are regularly held there. It has welcomed over a million visitors since opening.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music

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The Valletta International Baroque Festival is held every year in January. Jazz music in Malta was introduced in the Strait Street area, frequented by Allied sailors during both World Wars.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Malta's Jazz Festival took place here. Strait Street is also known as The Gut. This area is undergoing a programme of regeneration. The city's dual band clubs are the "King's Own Band Club" (Template:Langx) and "La Valette National Philharmonic Society" (Template:Langx).Template:Citation needed

Carnival

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Valletta is the scene of the Maltese Carnival, held in February each year, leading up to Lent.<ref name=cassar>Template:Cite journal</ref> There were no carnival trucks in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but trucks returned in 2022.Template:Citation needed

In 1823 the Valletta carnival was the scene of a human crush tragedy in which at least 110 boys perished.<ref name="hezekiah">Template:Cite book</ref>

Feasts

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In literature and the arts

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Twin towns – sister cities

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Valletta is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Transport

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File:Malta - Valletta - Vjal Nelson - Bus terminal Valletta.jpg
Bus station at Valletta

Malta International Airport is Template:Convert from the city in the town of Luqa. Malta's public transport system, which uses buses, operates mostly on routes to or from Valletta, with their central terminus just outside the city gate. Traffic within the city itself is restricted, with some principal roads being completely pedestrian areas. In 2006, a park and ride system was implemented in order to increase the availability of parking spaces in the city. People can leave their vehicles in a nearby Floriana car park and transfer to a van for the rest of the trip.

In 2007, a congestion pricing scheme was implemented to reduce long-term parking and traffic while promoting business in the city.<ref name=CVA>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An ANPR-based automated system takes photos of vehicles as they enter and exit the charging zone and vehicle owners are billed according to the duration of their stay.<ref name=CVA/>

Valletta is served by a fleet of electric taxis which transport riders from 10 points in Valletta to any destination in the city.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As of 2021, an underground Malta Metro is being planned, with a projected total cost of €6.2 billion,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> centred on the Valletta urban area.

Virtu Ferries offer passenger and goods services to Pozzallo and Catania, Sicily.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

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Sports

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  • Valletta F.C. Association Football team and Futsal team
  • Valletta Lions RFC Rugby Football Union team
  • Valletta's Marsamxett Harbour a "Regatta" (Rowing) Team, which takes part in the annual traditional Regatta on Victory Day (8 September).
  • Valletta United W.P.C., a Water Polo Club hailing from Marsamxett side
  • Valletta V.C., a Volleyball club.
  • Marsamxett Boċċi, a ''Boċċi'' Club from Marsamxett, Valletta.
  • Valletta St. Paul's Boċċi, a ''Boċċi'' Club from L-Arċipierku side, Valletta.

Further reading

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References

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Notes

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Template:Valletta Template:Local councils of Malta and Gozo Template:List of European capitals by region Template:European Capital of Culture Template:Authority control

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