Vittoriosa (pop. 4,000) is the second oldest town in Malta. Under the name of Birgu, which it bore before the Great Siege of 1565, it was already known in ancient times. The Phoenicians built a temple here, the remains of which are overlaid by the ruins of a Roman temple. Originally the pan of Malta's former inland capital, Median, Birgu was already protected by modest fortifications before the coming cribs Knights. Dating from the Aragonese period, these were strengthened in the time of the Grand Master, Juan de Homedes (1536-63); the bastions of Fort St Angelo were built, separated from the town by a moat with a drawbridge.
Thanks to this felt, together with Fort St Elmo on the opposite side of the harbor and the neighboring Fort St Michael, the Knights were able to beat off the Turkish attack.
Birgu then became the Headquarters of the Order, previously in Mdina. From the period of the Knights there remain a number of auberges (inns), the Inquisitor's Palace and St Lawrence's Church, the first conventual church of the Order The church contains the award and hat of the Grand Master, La Valette, founder of Valletta.
The German auberge was given a new facade after it was bombed by the Axis in World War II. The large squat bollard in front marks the beginning of the collachio, the knights' living quarter.
The old English auberge is being restored as a government museum. The house next door was the private residence of Sir Oliver Starkley, Master de Valette's secretary who has the singular honor of being interred next to his master in St John's Co-Cathedral.
This is the first and grandest of the auberges. The window at the top of the right of the building was a later addition and ruins the otherwise calm symmetry of the facade. The auberge was until recently a museum of political history and it is believed the site of the Auberge d'Aragon was to its right.
The fort was built in the ninth century on primitive fortifications that already existed at the site. This was to be the final stand during the Great Siege of 1565, but the Turks were beaten before the war got that far.
The fort remains a monument to Malta's strategic role in the military and religious conflicts that bedeviled the central Mediterranean for the last 1,000 years.
Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa.
Tips: Not open to the public, but permission to visit can be easily obtained by writing to the Order's embassy.
This simple main gate into town was restored in the early 18th century. Two other entrances into the city, the elaborately carved Advanced Gate and the Couvre Porte Gate, are to the left and behind the Poste d'Aragon.
TheInquisitor's Palace is a dull building where the Pope's envoy resided; the courtroom and cells are quite tame.
The palace is built around three small courtyards, and rooms sprout from them and the main staircase like a maze. On the ceiling, above the main stair, is the inquisitor's emblem: four linked black and white crosses. The principal room at the top of the stairs displays the coat of arms of each inquisitor.
Address: Inquisitor's Palace, Main Gate Street, Vittoriosa , Malta
Although the house has almost fallen down through neglect, the first floor 15th century twin Siculo-Norman window and frieze are still in reasonable repair. The only other pre-1530 relic in Vittoriosa is a 14th century window inside Fort St Angelo.
The large building almost at the edge of Victory Square was one of the first L'Isle Adam constructed in 1531. In the mid 1600s, and after the new Sacra Infermeria in Valletta was operational, the hospital was transferred to the Benedictine convent where it is today.
The 18th century chapel is now a fascinating and comprehensive little museum full of social, ecclesiastical and military paraphernalia. Its most treasured possessions are the hat and sword of Grand Master de la Vallette. Among the other exhibits are the last white ensign from the HMS St Angelo, eight pennant flags from each of the different langues, a well-thumbed pack of cards from 1609, an 18th century sedan chair, a Latin Vulgatae bible printed in 1598 in Venice, and a 16th century Venetian atlas.
Hours:
9:30am-12pm, 3pm-4pm
Tips: Donations requested in place of admission cost.
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Fort St Angelo, Vittoriosa
Vittoriosa
