Castellania (Malta)

This article is about the Castellania in Valletta. For the one in Birgu, see Inquisitor's Palace.
Castellania
Kastellanja

Façade of the Castellania
Alternative names Palazzo Castellania
Castellania Palace
General information
Status Intact
Type Courthouse
Architectural style Baroque
Location Valletta, Malta
Coordinates 35°53′48.6″N 14°30′44.6″E / 35.896833°N 14.512389°E / 35.896833; 14.512389
Current tenants Ministry of Health
Construction started 1757
Opening 17 November 1760
Owner Government of Malta
Technical details
Material Limestone and marble
Floor count 2
Design and construction
Architect Francesco Zerafa
Giuseppe Bonnici

The Castellania (Maltese: Il-Kastellanja, colloquially Il-Kistlanija),[1] also known as Palazzo Castellania or the Castellania Palace,[2] is a former courthouse and prison in Valletta, Malta, which was built in the Baroque style by the Order of St. John in the 18th century. The building served this purpose until the courts were transferred to the Auberge d'Auvergne in the 19th century. It subsequently served as secondary school before becoming the head office of the Public Health Department, which was later renamed the Medical and Health Department. Today the Castellania houses the Ministry of Health, the successor of these departments.

History

Interior of the Castellania

The Castellania of Valletta was first built in the 1570s, during the magistracy of Jean de la Cassière, to replace the earlier law courts in Birgu (which later became the Inquisitor's Palace). In 1757, during the magistracy of Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, the original Castellania was demolished, and a new building was constructed in its place. The new Castellania was built in the Baroque style, to a design by the architect Francesco Zerafa. Zerafa died before its completion, and he was substituted by the architect Giuseppe Bonnici.[2] The edifice was officially opened in November 1760.[3]

A craftsman who certainly worked on the building's decorative sculpture was Maestro Giovanni Puglisi, a Neapolitan buonavoglia. As fate would have it, he would become the first man to be convicted and sentenced to death in the Castellania. A pillory stone is located at the building's corner. Above the stone is a hook, which is known as Nelson's Hook, which was probably originally used to lift the bells of St. John's Co-Cathedral. It might have also been used to secure prisoners on the pillory.[4]

Sir Themistocles Zammit's laboratory in the Castellania

By the 19th century, the building became too small to house the law courts, and they were transferred to Auberge d'Auvergne in 1840. By 1853, the building was abandoned, but part of it was later converted to a secondary school for girls.[3] In 1895, Gerald Strickland constituted the Public Health Department, and the Castellania became its head office. Physician and archaeologist Sir Themistocles Zammit had a laboratory within the Castellania, and in 1905 he discovered the Mediterranean strain of brucellosis while working there.[2]

The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925.[5]

Today, the Castellania houses the Ministry of Health, the successor of the Public Health Department, while the ground floor of the building is occupied by a number of shops. The building is a Grade 1 national monument,[6] and it is also listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.[7]

Architecture

Ornate centrepiece of the façade

The Castellania is built in Baroque architecture, having an ornate façade decorated with a number of marble sculptures, including allegories of Justice and Truth which were sculpted by a Sicilan artist, Mastro Gian.[8] The façade originally had a bust of Pinto and his coat of arms, but these were removed either during the French occupation of Malta or in the early 19th century.[6]

The doorway of the Castellania includes marble[9] taken from the remains of the Temple of Proserpina, a Roman temple found at Mtarfa.[10][11]

The building is two stories high, and it is built on three sides of a small courtyard at the rear. The interior of the building contains offices, a court hall, a chapel and prison cells.[7]

Above the door an inscription says:

DEO OPT. MAX.

EMMANUEL PINTO M.M. ET PRINCEPS
HUNC UTRIUSQUE JUSTITIAE LOCUM
VETUSTATE PROPE LABENTEM,
AD TERROREM POTIUS, QUAM AD POENAM
A FUNDAMENTIS ANNI FERE SPATIO
RENOVAVIT AUXIT ORNAVIT.
A. D. MDCCLVIII

References

  1. ↑ Cassar Pullicino, Joseph (October–December 1949). "The Order of St. John in Maltese folk-memory" (PDF). Scientia 15 (4): 160. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Castellania Palace". Ministeru tas-Saħħa, l-Anzjani u l-Kura fil-Komunità. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 Denaro, Victor F. (1958). "Houses in Merchants Street, Valletta" (PDF). Melita Historica 2 (3): 159–161.
  4. ↑ "One World - Protecting the most significant buildings, monuments and features of Valletta (36)". Times of Malta. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Protection of Antiquities Regulations 21st November, 1932 Government Notice 402 of 1932, as Amended by Government Notices 127 of 1935 and 338 of 1939.". Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 "The Castellania". MEPA. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Castellania" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Degiorgio, Stephen (2010). "Palaces and Lodgings of the Knights of St John at Malta". academia.edu. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. ↑ http://gutenberg.readingroo.ms/4/1/2/6/41263/41263-8.txt
  10. ↑ Caruana, Antonio Annetto (1882). Report on the Phoenician and Roman antiquities in the group of the islands of Malta. Malta: Government Printing Office. p. 88.
  11. ↑ Cardona, David (2008–2009). "The known unknown: identification, provenancing, and relocation of pieces of decorative architecture from Roman public buildings and other private structures in Malta". Malta Archaeological Review (9): 43.

Further reading

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