Description
VALLETTA, the capital of Malta, is a World Heritage City.
It is the creation of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, known as the Knights of Malta. Founded in 1566 by the French Grand Master, Jean Parisot de la Valetta, it divides the magnificent Grand Harbour from the harbour of Marsamxett.
Designed by the Italian engineer Francesco Laparelli and completed by his Maltese assistant, Gerolamo Cassar, it is a fine example of a fortified walled town of the Renaaissance. Unlike most European cities, which tended to grow haphazardly over the years, Valletta was built straight rom the drawing board. Laparelli and Cassar had the opportunity of doing everything right – to create a perfect city from scratch. The city was laid out on a regular grid plan; its fortifications, which so impressed Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1834, were given priority in order to make the city impregnable. The lessons of the Great Siege if 1565, when a Turkish armada attempted to capture the island, were put to good use.
Larely devastated in the Second World War – the Maltese islands were subjected to some 3,000 air-raids – several of its treasures were lost, but much of its beauty and many of its palaces, churches and fortifications survived for us to enjoy. This WELCOME TRAVEL GUIDE should help you do so.
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