Editing Palace (section)

===Malta===
[[File:Valletta St Johns square Malta 2014 3.jpg|thumb|right|[[Grandmaster's Palace (Valletta)|Grandmaster's Palace]] in [[Valletta]]]]
Until the sixteenth century, [[Malta]] was part of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], and the capital [[Mdina]] housed many palaces for the nobility, such as [[Palazzo Falson]] and [[Palazzo Santa Sofia]]. After the [[History of Malta under the Order of Saint John|arrival of the Order of Saint John]] in 1530, the knights settled in [[Birgu]], where part of [[Fort St Angelo]] was used as a palace for the [[List of Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller|Grand Master]]. The knights themselves lived in [[Langue (Knights Hospitaller)#Birgu|auberges]], but these were more large houses rather than palaces.

When the Order began to build a new capital [[Valletta]] in 1566, a new [[Grandmaster's Palace (Valletta)|Grandmaster's Palace]] and a series of [[Langue (Knights Hospitaller)#Birgu|new auberges]] were built. The auberges in Valletta are much larger than their counterparts in Birgu, and can be considered as palaces. The most important auberge still standing is [[Auberge de Castille]], which currently houses the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. Over the years, the Grand Masters also built a number of large residences in the countryside, such as [[Verdala Palace]] and [[San Anton Palace]]. Both of these now serve as official residences of the [[president of Malta]].

The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta|Archbishop of Malta]] has a palace in Mdina. The inquisitor also had a [[Inquisitor's Palace|palace in Birgu]] and [[Girgenti Palace|another in Girgenti]] until the abolition of the inquisition in 1798. The nobility, upper classes and individual knights of the Order built a number of private palaces, especially in Valletta, but also in the countryside. There are other palaces built by the nobility, such as, most notably [[Palazzo Parisio (Valletta)|Palazzo Parisio]] in Valletta and [[Dragonara Palace|Palazzo Dragonara]] in St Julians.