President’s
Palace When
in 1571 Grand Master Pietro del Monte ordered the transfer of the Order’s
headquarters from Birgu to the newly built Valletta, his own palace had not
been built yet. He went to live in a house which belonged to his nephew, and
eventually it was decided that the Grand Master’s Palace would be built in that
area of Valletta. The palace was designed by Gerolamo Cassar. Throughout the years
it was enlarged more than once, and its present façade dates to the time of
Grand Master Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca. Eventually the Palace was used by the
British Governor, and since 1974 it has been used as the office of the
President of Malta. Along the façade there are a number of marble tablets
commemorating recent events in the history of Malta.
Il-Palazz tal-President
Meta fl-1571 il-Gran Mastru Pietro del Monte ordna it-trasferiment
tal-kwartieri ta’ l-Ordni ta’ San Ġwann mill-Birgu lejn il-belt il-ġdida,
Valletta, ir-residenza tiegħu kienet għadha mhux mibnija. Hu mar joqgħod f’dar
li kienet tan-neputi, u mill-ewwel kien deċiż li l-palazz tal-Gran Mastru għandu
jkun mibni f’dak il-post. Il-palazz kien mibni fuq id-disinn tal-perit Malti
Glormu Cassar. Matul is-snin il-bini tkompla jitkabbar aktar minn darba, u l-faċċata
kif narawha illum saret fiż-żmien il-Gran Mastru Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca.
Matul iż-żmien, il-palazz intuża mill-Gvernatur Ingliż, u mill-1974 sar l-Uffiċju
tal-President ta’ Malta. Mal-Faċċata naraw numru ta’ plakkek ta’ l-irħam li
jfakkru diversi avvenimenti importanti li seħħew f’dawn l-aħħar snin.
Bishop’s
Palace
Soon
after the arrival of the Order of St John in Malta in 1530, and their setting
up their headquarters in Birgu, the Bishop of Malta saw it fit to build his own
palace there as well. The Palace, on the
instructions of Bishop Domenico Cubelles, included also a number of prison
cells, as the then Bishop was also the Pro-Inquisitor for Malta. It continued
to be used as such until in the beginning of the 17th century, when another
Bishop’s Palace was built in Valletta. This building continued to be used by
the Bishops, whenever they visited the area during their pastoral visits. For a
number of years, this building was used as an infants’ school.
Il-P
alazz ta' l-Isqof
Ftit wara il-wasla f’Malta ta’ l-ordni ta’ San Ġwann fl-1530, u wara li
waqfu l-kwartieri tagħhom fil-Birgu, l-Isqof ta’ Malta ħaseb ukoll biex anke hu
jkollu palazz fil-Birgu ukoll. Il-Palazz, fuq struzzjonijiet mogħtija
mill-Isqof Domenico Cubelles, kellu jkun hemm fih numru ta’ ċelel. Dan minħabba
l-fatt li l-istess Isqof f’dak iż-żmien kellu ir-responsabiltà ta’ Pro-Inkwiżitur
ta’ Malta. Il-Palazz baqa’ jintuża sal-bidu tas-seklu 17, meta inbena palazz
ta’ l-Isqof ieħor fil-Belt Valletta. Dan il-palazz baqa’ jintuża mill-istess
isqfijiet kull meta kienu jmorru lejn il-Kottonera u jagħmlu iż-żjara pastorali
tagħhom, ħalli b’hekk ikollhom fejn joqgħodu. L-istess binja, intuża ukoll għal
ħafna snin bħala skola taż-żgħar.
.