Editing Valletta (section)

==Cityscape==
[[File:Valletta Lower Barrakka gardens Malta 2014 2.jpg|thumb|[[Lower Barrakka Gardens]] and its monument of remembrance]]
The architecture of Valletta's [[List of streets and piazzas in Valletta|streets and piazzas]] ranges from mid-16th century Baroque to [[Modernist architecture|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">{{cite web|url=http://www.maltaexpo.com/page.asp?p=16005&l=1|title=Valletta – the Capital City|access-date=30 November 2008|publisher=Maltaexpo.com|archive-date=3 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703235029/http://www.maltaexpo.com/page.asp?p=16005&l=1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Collectables">{{cite web|url=http://collectables.maltaexpo.com/page.asp?n=product&p=209746&c=734|title=LP21 – Valletta 'Citta Umilissima' Lapel Pin|access-date=30 November 2008|work=Collectables – Our Products|publisher=Maltaexpo.com|archive-date=3 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703235130/http://collectables.maltaexpo.com/page.asp?n=product&p=209746&c=734|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Buildings of historic importance include [[St John's Co-Cathedral]], formerly the Conventual Church of the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Malta]]. It has the only signed work and largest painting by Michelangelo Merisi da [[Caravaggio]].<ref name="Patrick2007">{{Cite book|last=Patrick|first=James|title=Renaissance and Reformation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6ZJlLHLPY8C&pg=PA194|year=2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7651-1|page=194}}</ref> The [[Auberge de Castille|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 (Valletta)|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>{{cite web|title=Grandmaster Palace|url=http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/filebank/inventory/01134.pdf|website=National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands|date=28 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507183023/http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/filebank/inventory/01134.pdf|archive-date=7 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Admiralty House (Valletta)|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 (Malta)|National Museum of Fine Arts]].

The [[Manoel Theatre]] ({{langx|mt|Teatru Manoel}}) 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 [[fortification]]s of the port, built by the Knights as a magnificent series of bastions, demi-bastions, cavaliers and curtains, approximately {{convert|100|m|ft|}} high, all contribute to the unique architectural quality of the city.

===Neighbourhoods===
[[File:Valletta, Malta - 2018 (39570984425).jpg|thumb|Valletta in the foreground and Fort Saint Elmo at the front]]
[[File:St Lazarus Curtain.jpg|thumb|Exterior and interior outlines of Valletta]]
Valletta contains a number of unofficial neighbourhoods, including:<ref name="melitensiawth">{{cite journal|last1=Zahra|first1=Lorenzo|title=Laqmijiet ta' Postijiet fil-Belt Valletta|journal=Melita Historica|date=1999|volume=2|issue=23|page=55|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/L-Imnara/L-Imnara.%2006(1999)2=23/09s.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417215246/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/L-Imnara/L-Imnara.%2006(1999)2=23/09s.pdf|archive-date=17 April 2016}}</ref>

*Strada Rjali – the main thoroughfare, [[Republic Street, Valletta|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 ''[[Borgo (disambiguation)|archi-borgo]]'' since the area is located just outside [[Fort Saint Elmo]].<ref name="vallettaactionplan">{{cite web|title=Valletta Action Plan – Integrated Cultural Heritage Management Plan|url=http://www.cityofvalletta.org/common/file_provider.aspx?id=634612821044531250|website=Valletta Local Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417103833/http://www.cityofvalletta.org/common/file_provider.aspx?id=634612821044531250|archive-date=17 April 2016|pages=16–18}}</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 ({{langx|mt|Duwi Balli}}) – an area close to il-Baviera. The name probably originates from the [[French occupation of Malta|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>{{cite web|last1=Gauci|first1=Anisia|title=Regeneration of Jews Sally Port (Il-Fossa), Valletta|url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/4834|website=[[University of Malta]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417110842/https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/4834|archive-date=17 April 2016|date=2011}}</ref>
*[[Manderaggio]] ({{langx|mt|il-Mandraġġ}}) – 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"/>
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