Valletta (Maltese:
Il-Belt Valletta, commonly
referred to as Il-Belt - 'The City') is the capital
city of Malta.
The city has a population of 6,315 (official estimate for 2005). It is
located in the central-eastern portion of the island
of Malta, where Scebberras Hill juts out into the surrounding
harbours. The mayor of Valletta is Paul Borg Olivier.
Valletta, the Città Umilissima is Baroque
in character, however it has elements of Mannerism,
Neo-Classical
with hints of Modern
architecture located in selected areas. Valletta did not escape World
War II unscathed; although it remained essentially Baroque
in character, the war left major scars on the city. In 1980
the City of Valletta was listed by UNESCO
as a World
Heritage Site.[1]
Name
The Valletta skyline, as seen from
Sliema
The official name the Order
of Saint John gave to the city was Humilissima Civitas Valletta
— The Most Humble
City of Valletta. However, with the building of bastions,
curtains and ravelins,
along with the beauty of the baroque
buildings along its streets, it became known as Superbissima —
'Most Proud', amongst the ruling houses of Europe. In Maltese
it is colloquially known as Il-Belt, simply meaning "The
City".
Benjamin
Disraeli visited Valletta in August 1830 , on the recommendation of
his friend, Lord
Byron. He described Valletta 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 subsequent letters to friends, that it is "comparable to Venice
and Cádiz...not
a single tree, but full of palaces worthy of Palladio."
Government
Dr. Paul
Borg Olivier is the Mayor of Valletta and has been leading the City
Council since 1999 . Dr. Borg Olivier was elected on the Nationalist
Party Ticket (PN), an affiliate of the European
People's Party, which holds the majority of the Council.
History
The foundation stone of Valletta was laid by the Grandmaster of the
Order of Saint John, Jean
Parisot de la Valette, on 28
March 1566;
The Order (which was the long-time ruler of the city and the island)
decided to found a new city on the Xiberras peninsula just after
the end of the Siege
of Malta in 1565, so as to fortify the Order's position in Malta,
effectively binding the Knights to the island. The city was designed by Francesco
Laparelli, while many of the most important buildings were built by Gerolamo
Cassar. Valletta, hence, is an urban area which boasts many
buildings from the 16th century and onwards, but most of them were built
during the time of the Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem (the Knights
Hospitaller, or Knights
of Malta).
On 28
March 1566,
the building of the city was inaugurated, with La Valette himself
placing the first stone, where there is now the Church of Our Lady of
Victories. The city's plan was somewhat new to the Maltese Islands, as
while other towns and cities had irregular winding streets and alleys,
the new city had a rectangular design, without any Collacchio,
that is an area restricted for important buildings. The streets were to
be wide and straight, with the one in the middle starting from the City
Gate and ending up at Fort
Saint Elmo on the other end. Some of the bastions were to be 153
feet tall.
Unfortunately, La Valette never saw the completion of the city, as he
died on 21
August 1568,
aged 74. He was buried in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, but
after the St.
John's Co-Cathedral was built, his remains were taken there. His
tomb is now surrounded by those of the rest of the Grand Masters.
After the Knights and the brief French interlude, the next building
boom in Valletta occurred during the British rule. Gates were widened,
buildings demolished and rebuilt, houses widened and civic projects
installed; however, the whole city and its infrastructure were damaged
by air raids in World
War II, notably losing its majestic opera
house constructed at the city entrance in the 19th century.
Geography
St. Ursola Street, Valletta
The Valletta peninsula,
which is fed by the two natural harbours of Marsamxett
and the Grand
Harbour, is Malta's major port,
with unloading quays at Marsa;
a cruise-liner terminal has been built recently in the Grand Harbour,
along the old sea-wall of the duty
free stores built by Grandmaster Manuel
Pinto de Fonseca.
The city contains several buildings of historic importance, amongst
which are St
John's Co-Cathedral, formerly the Conventual Church of the Knights
of Malta and home to the largest single work by Michelangelo Merisi
da Caravaggio,
his only signed work, and a priceless collection of seventeenth-century
Flemish tapestries (alongside Republic Street); the Auberge de Castille
et Leon, formerly the official seat of the Knights
of Malta of the Langue of Castille, Léon and Portugal, now the
office of the Prime Minister of Malta (found on the highest point of the
city, above the bastions); the Magisterial Palace, built between 1571
and 1574, formerly the seat of the Grand Master of the Knights
of Malta, now housing the Maltese Parliament and the offices of the
President of Malta (opposite Palace Square along Republic Street); the
National Museum of Fine Arts, a Rococo palace dating back to the late
1570s, which served as the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief
of the Mediterranean Fleet during the British era, from 1789 onwards (in
South Street); the National Museum of Archaeology, formerly the Auberge
de Provence
(Republic Street); the Manoel
Theatre (Teatru Manwel, in Maltese), constructed in just ten months
in 1731, by order of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, and one of
the oldest working theatres in Europe; the Mediterranean Conference
Centre, formerly the Sacra
Infermeria, built in 1574, one of Europe's most renowned hospitals
during the time of the Knights of Malta; and the fortifications
themselves, built by the Knights
as a magnificent series of bastions, demi-bastions, ravelins and
curtains, approximately 100 metres high, designed to protect the city
from attack.
Valletta has a suburb, Floriana,
which was built on the outside part of the Valletta bastions and on the
inner part of the Floriana
Lines, hence leaving an area between these two lines to house those
that could not afford a house in Valletta. Another area for such people
is located within Valletta's own walls: In the original plans, the Order
wanted a man-made creek to house the navy, however this could not be
completed, and so the area, known as Manderaggio (in Maltese
'il-Mandraġġ'), was taken over by the homeless, so resulting
in a jumble of buildings with dark alleyways in despicable sanitary
conditions. The Manderaggio was partially demolished in the 1950s so as
to build a housing area in Valletta. The area still remains a shabby
area, yet still it is better than it was before.
Demographics
The population of Valletta has steadily decreased over the years, and
is now reduced to about a third of its peak. This process was heavily
accelerated after World
War II as new development in outlying suburbs marked a shift of the
population away from the capital city, but it continues as the centre of
Malta's commercial and administrative activity.
Transport
Republic Street - a pedestrianised street in Valletta
Buses
Malta's public transport system, which uses buses, operates mostly on
routes to or from Valletta, with their central terminus just outside the
city's
entrance. Traffic within the city itself is restricted, with some
principal roads being completely pedestrian areas.
Palaces
