Editing Valletta (section)

==History==
{{see also|Mount Sciberras|Sciberras Peninsula}}
[[File:Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Merkanti 12 ies.jpg|thumb|left|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>{{cite web|url=http://www.thinksite.eu/userfiles/Glossary+of+placenames+related+to+Islam+Christianity+and+Ethnicity.pdf|title=thinksite.eu|website=Thinksite.eu|access-date=8 August 2017|archive-date=29 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629211446/http://www.thinksite.eu/userfiles/Glossary+of+placenames+related+to+Islam+Christianity+and+Ethnicity.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-01-06/newspaper-lifestyleculture/%E2%80%98Xaghret-Mewwija:-L-Istorja-tal-Belt-%E2%80%A6-Milwija%E2%80%99-aka-Dragut%E2%80%99s-revenge-637304835|title='Xagħret Mewwija: L-Istorja tal-Belt … Milwija' aka Dragut's revenge – The Malta Independent|website=www.independent.com.mt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2009-03-15/news/the-secrets-of-underground-valletta-221865/|title=The Secrets of underground Valletta – The Malta Independent|website=Independent.com.mt}}</ref> or Ħal Newwija.<ref>[http://www.thinksite.eu/userfiles/Glossary%20of%20placenames%20related%20to%20Islam%20Christianity%20and%20Ethnicity.pdf p. 21, footnote 163] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117201321/http://www.thinksite.eu/userfiles/Glossary%20of%20placenames%20related%20to%20Islam%20Christianity%20and%20Ethnicity.pdf |date=17 January 2016 }}.</ref> Mewwija refers to a sheltered place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Archivum%20Melitense/AM.01(1910-1912)/6%20AM.%201(1911-1912)11-12/04.pdf|title=p. 231}}</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>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsK_BAAAQBAJ&q=Mewwija+Valletta&pg=PT150|title=Malta: A Traveller's Anthology|first=Deborah|last=Manley|date=10 February 2012|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=9781908493590|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="BRILL">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7p2l48O2KoC&q=mewwija+sheb+er+ras&pg=PA215|title=Foundation, Dedication and Consecration in Early Modern Europe|first1=M.|last1=Delbeke|first2=M.|last2=Schraven|date=9 December 2011|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004217577|via=Google Books}}</ref> A family which surely owned land became known as ''Sceberras'', now a Maltese surname as Sciberras.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wbFQAAAAYAAJ&q=Valletta+Sceberras de Piro].</ref> At one point the entire peninsula became known as Sceberras.
{{Quote box |width=22em |align=left   |bgcolor=#B0C4DE
|title=Historical affiliations
|fontsize=100% |quote={{flagicon|Knights Hospitaller}} [[Hospitaller Malta]] 1566–1798<br />
{{flagicon|France|1830}} [[French occupation of Malta|French Republic]] 1798–1800<br />
{{flagicon|UK}} [[Malta Protectorate|Protectorate of Malta]] 1800–1813<br />
{{flagicon|Malta|1943}} [[Crown Colony of Malta]] 1813–1964<br />
{{flagicon|Malta}} [[State of Malta]] 1964–1974<br />
{{flagicon|Malta}} [[Malta|Republic of Malta]] 1974–present
}}
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">{{cite web |last1=Vella |first1=John |title=Thalassic imaginaries : witnesses to (an) unwritten history |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80897 |url-access=limited |via=L-Università ta' Malta |website=European Review of History |publisher=Taylor & Francis |access-date=2 May 2022 |ref=Journal article}}</ref>

===Order of Saint John===
[[File:DetalleSiegeMalta.jpg|thumb|left|The Ottoman army bombs the Knights' Three Cities from the peninsula of Sciberras during the 1565 [[Great Siege of Malta|Great Siege]].]]
[[File:Malte, La Valette, co-cathédrale St Jean.jpg|thumb|The nave of [[Saint John's Co-Cathedral]]|left]]
[[File:Grandmaster's palace, Valletta.jpg|thumb|[[Grandmaster's Palace (Valletta)|Grandmaster's Palace]]|left]]
[[File:GrandHarbourValletta1801.jpg|thumb|Valletta and the [[Grand Harbour]] {{Circa|1801}}]]

The building of a city on the Sciberras Peninsula had been proposed by the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] as early as 1524.<ref name=about>{{cite web|last1=Attard|first1=Sonia|title=The Valletta Fortifications|url=http://www.aboutmalta.com/history/vallettafort.shtml|website=aboutmalta.com|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref> Back then, the only building on the peninsula was a small watchtower<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Scientia|last=Leopardi|first=E. R.|date=1949|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Scientia%20(Malta)/Scientia.%2015(1949)2(Apr.-Jun.)/01.pdf|title=The First Printed Description of Malta : Lyons 1536|volume=15|issue=2|pages=56, 58}}</ref> dedicated to [[Erasmus of Formia]] (Saint Elmo), which had been built in 1488.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/30600/1/Triton%20Square%20and%20Bisjuttin%20Area-Embelishment%20projects.pdf |title=Triton Square and Bisjuttin Area-Embelishment projects |publisher=Ministry for Tourism |date=January 2018 }}</ref>

In 1552, the [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese]] watchtower was demolished and the larger [[Fort Saint Elmo]] was built in its place.<ref name="cityhistory">{{cite web|title=History of Valletta|url=http://www.cityofvalletta.org/content.aspx?id=46634|website=City of Valletta|access-date=19 September 2014}}</ref>

In the [[Great Siege of Malta|Great Siege]] of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, [[Jean Parisot de Valette|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>{{cite journal|last=Blouet|first=Brian W.|title=Town Planning in Malta, 1530–1798|journal=Town Planning Review|volume=35|issue=3|date=October 1964|page=183|publisher=[[Liverpool University Press]]|doi=10.3828/tpr.35.3.383v818680j843v8}}</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 [[Cornerstone|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, Valletta|Our Lady of Victories Church]].<ref name="journal">{{cite book|url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004222083_010|chapter=Building a Sense of Belonging. The Foundation of Valletta in Malta|first=Carmelina|last=Gugliuzzo|title=Foundation, Dedication and Consecration in Early Modern Europe|date=9 December 2011|pages=209–224|publisher=Booksandjournals.brillonline.com|doi=10.1163/9789004222083_010|isbn=9789004222083}}</ref>

In his book ''Dell'Istoria della Sacra Religione et Illustrissima Militia di San Giovanni Gierosolimitano'' ({{langx|en|The History of the Sacred Religion and Illustrious Militia of St John of Jerusalem}}), written between 1594 and 1602, [[Giacomo Bosio]] writes that when the cornerstone of Valletta was placed, a group of [[Maltese people|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>{{cite web|last1=Cassar|first1=Mario|title=L-Istorja tal-Ilsien Malti|url=http://www.akkademjatalmalti.com/page.asp?p=9023#1600|website=L-Akkademja tal-Malti|access-date=19 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923054701/http://www.akkademjatalmalti.com/page.asp?p=9023#1600|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=usurped|language=mt}}</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 Hospitaller|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 (Valletta)|City Gate]] and ending at Fort Saint Elmo (which was rebuilt) overlooking the Mediterranean; certain bastions were built {{convert|47|m|ft|}} 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>{{cite journal|last=Graff|first=Philippe|title=La Valette: une ville nouvelle du XVIe siècle et son évolution jusqu'à nos jours|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/remmm_0997-1327_1994_num_71_1_1641|language=fr|publisher=[[Publications de l'Université de Provence]]|journal=Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Méditerranée: Le carrefour maltais|date=1994|volume=71|issue=1|page=157|doi=10.3406/remmm.1994.1641|issn=2105-2271}}</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|thumb|[[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]]'s depiction of the [[Grand Harbour]], [[National Museum of Fine Arts (Malta)|National Museum of Fine Arts]]]]

Seven Auberges were built for the [[Langue (Knights Hospitaller)|Order's Langues]], and these were complete by the 1580s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rudolf|first1=Uwe Jens|last2=Berg|first2=Warren G.|date=2010|title=Historical Dictionary of Malta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nwuUOVkaMB0C&pg=PA33|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=33|isbn=9780810873902}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Scientia|last=Cassar|first=Paul|date=1946|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Scientia%20(Malta)/Scientia.%2012(1946)2(Apr.-Jun.)/02.pdf|title=The Hospital of the Order of St. John in Malta|volume=12|issue=2|pages=57–59}}</ref> An eighth Auberge, [[Auberge de Bavière]], was later added in the 18th century.<ref name="melitensiawth-phw">{{cite journal |last1=Ellul |first1=Michael |title=Carlo Gimach (1651–1730) – Architect and Poet |journal=Proceedings of History Week |date=1986 |pages=20–22 |url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Proceedings%20of%20History%20Week/PHW%201986/02s.pdf |publisher=Historical Society of Malta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302135025/http://www.melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Melita%20Historica/MH.03(1960-63)/MH.3(1963)4/orig02.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2016 |url-status=live  |access-date=4 January 2016 }}</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>{{cite news|title=Floriana's Pavilion from the Knights to the British|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140504/life-features/Floriana-s-Pavilion-from-the-Knights-to-the-British.517786|access-date=18 April 2015|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=4 May 2014}}</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">{{cite book|last1=Armstrong|first1=Gary|last2=Mitchell|first2=Jon P.|title=Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zliK30npLlsC&q=false&pg=PA44|publisher=Routledge|date=2008|page=44|isbn=9781134269198}}</ref>

In 1634, a [[1634 Valletta explosion|gunpowder factory explosion]] killed 22 people in Valletta.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Spiteri|first1=Stephen C.|author-link1=Stephen C. Spiteri|title=Hospitaller Gunpowder Magazines|journal=Arx – International Journal of Military Architecture and Fortification|date=2012|volume=Occasional Papers|issue=2|url=http://www.militaryarchitecture.com/index.php/Journals/arx-occasional-papers-hospitaller-gunpowder-magazines.html|page=6}}</ref> In 1749, Muslim slaves [[Conspiracy of the Slaves|plotted]] to kill Grandmaster [[Manuel Pinto da Fonseca|Pinto]] and take over Valletta, but the revolt was suppressed before it even started due to their plans leaking out to the Order.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eltis|first1=David|last2=Bradley|first2=Keith|last3=Cartledge|first3=Paul|title=The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 3: AD 1420-AD 1804|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521840682|page=144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qp_3aL76isC&pg=PA144}}</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>{{cite journal|last=Mifsud Bonnici|first=Carmelo|journal=Malta Letteraria|title=Fr. Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Malta%20Letteraria/ML.n.s.,%2011(1936)/11.pdf|page=230|volume=11|issue=8|date=August 1936}}</ref>

In 1775, during the reign of [[Francisco Ximenes de Texada|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>{{cite web|last1=Borg Muscat|first1=David|title=Reassessing the September 1775 Rebellion: a Case of Lay Participation or a 'Rising of the Priests'?|url=http://mhs.eu.pn/mh3/20022.html|website=Malta Historical Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421164525/http://mhs.eu.pn/mh3/20022.html|archive-date=21 April 2014|date=2005}}</ref>

===French occupation and British rule===
[[File:Malta GC. Valletta-1967 (8240967236).jpg|thumb|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 occupation of Malta|French invaded the island]] and expelled the Order.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Ekistics|last=Zammit|first=Andre|date=1986|title=Valletta and the system of human settlements in the Maltese Islands|volume=53|issue=316/317|publisher=Athens Center of Ekistics|pages=89–95|jstor=43620704}}</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>{{cite news|last1=Bonello|first1=Giovanni|title=Let's hide the majestic bastions|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121118/life-features/Let-s-hide-the-majestic-bastions.445894|access-date=14 October 2014|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=18 November 2012}}</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>{{cite book |last=Cole |first=Beverly |title=Trains |publisher=H.F.Ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-8480-0516-1 |location=Potsdam, Germany |page=64 }}</ref> It was closed down in 1931 after [[Malta bus|buses]] became a popular means of transport.

In 1939, Valletta was abandoned as the headquarters of the [[Mediterranean Fleet|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 (World War II)|Siege of Malta]].<ref name="Jacobs2016">{{cite book|author=Peter Jacobs|title=Fortress Islands Malta: Defence & Re-Supply During the Siege|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DV6qCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT10|date=31 January 2016|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-8255-3|pages=10–}}</ref> [[Nazi Germany|German]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italian]] air raids throughout the [[Second World War]] caused much destruction in Valletta and the rest of the harbor area. The [[Royal Opera House, Valletta|Royal Opera House]], constructed at the city entrance in the 19th century, was one of the buildings lost to the raids.<ref name="cityhistory"/>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:-The Harbor at Valletta, Malta- MET DP115643 (cropped).jpg|Valletta harbour {{circa|1850}}, photo by [[Calvert Jones]]
File:Goats_at_Port_Real_Wellcome_L0045092_(cropped).jpg|[[City Gate (Valletta)|King's Gate]] {{circa}} 1884–1905
<!--File:-Strada Levante, Valletta, Malta- MET DP115250.jpg|Valletta's ''Strada Levante'' around 1850, photo by [[Calvert Jones]]-->
File:Teatru_Rjal,_Malta_1911.jpg|[[Royal Opera House, Valletta|Royal Opera House]] in 1911
File:Bomb Damage in Valletta, Malta, 1 May 1942. A8701.jpg|Bomb damage in Valletta during the [[Second World War]]
</gallery>

===Contemporary===
In 1980, the [[24th Chess Olympiad]] took place in Valletta.<ref>{{cite web|title=24th Chess Olympiad|url=http://www.olimpbase.org/1980/1980in.html|publisher=OlimpBase|access-date=2 March 2014}}</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>{{cite web|title=Valletta Conference on Migration (Malta, 11–12 November 2015) – Orientation debate|url=http://www.statewatch.org/news/2015/jul/eu-council-november-015-migration-valletta-conference-orientation-debate-10387-15.pdf|website=statewatch.org|publisher=Council of the European Union|access-date=12 November 2015|date=30 June 2015}}</ref> After that, on 27 November 2015, the city also hosted part of the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Queen to greet line-up of despots at meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Malta|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/12018566/Queen-to-greet-line-up-of-despots-at-meeting-of-Commonwealth-leaders-in-Malta.html|access-date=29 November 2015|work=Daily Telegraph|date=26 November 2015}}</ref>

Valletta was the [[European Capital of Culture]] in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.mt/en/About%20Malta/valletta/Pages/European-Capital-of-Culture-in-2018.aspx|title=Valletta awarded the title of European Capital of Culture in 2018|publisher=gov.mt|access-date=25 June 2015 }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:City Gate, Valletta 002.jpg|[[Renzo Piano]]'s [[City Gate (Valletta)|Valletta City Gate]] (2014)
File:Parliament Building.jpg|Detail of the [[Parliament House (Malta)|Parliament House]] (2015)
File:Sacra Infermeria in 2016.jpg|[[Mediterranean Conference Centre]], former ''Sacra Infermeria'' (2016)
File:Triton Fountain.jpg|Renovated [[Tritons' Fountain]] (2018)
File:Drapeaux UE et Malte - La Valette.jpg|[[Auberge d'Italie]], renovated in 2016 to host the new [[MUŻA]] (''[[MUŻA|Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arti]]'')
File:The interior after its restoration in 2018.jpg|Renovated covered market [[Is-Suq tal-Belt]], 2018
</gallery>