A (Brief) Beginner’s Guide To Maltese History Part 10: The Dark Knights Episode 3
While covering Malta’s extensive history, we’ve already had two Knight entries for the Maltese History series.
There was Episode 1 which covered the arrival of the Knights and their honeymoon period on the island and Episode 2, where we talked about how the Knights and the Ottomans had a giant squabble at sea.
Now, it’s time for us to cover Episode 3; the aftermath of the Great Siege.
The Great Siege didn’t get that name for nothing. It is said that between 25,000 to 35,000 Ottoman soldiers lost their lives, with numbers differing according to different sources from different sides.
Malta lost around a third of its population and a third of the knights residing here. There’s no exact number as sources also differ on our side. What’s for sure, though, is that many people lost their lives during the Great Siege. Birgu and Senglea had so much damage made to them, that some parts of both cities were destroyed.
After the great bloodbath, Grandmaster de Vallette decided that it was time to construct a heavily fortified city which would protect the country better if the Turks ever decided to attack again.
That’s when Mount Sciberras was chosen by the Knights to become the city of Valletta.
In 1566, our island’s homeport housed the strongest fleet in all of Europe. It only had like one building on it, St. Elmo. The fort at the time was just a small watchtower. The knights acquired the great military engineer Francesco Laparelli to help draw up the necessary plans to build the new city.
Pope Pius V and Philip II of Spain both showed interest in the project, and apart from lending us Laparelli, they also gave a certain amount of financial aid to the knights.
The construction of the trés baroque Valletta started out in 1566. First came the majestic bastions, and then the towering buildings that make up the heart of the city.
Sadly for de Vallette, he did not live long enough to see his dream city complete.
His successor, del Monte, continued working on the beautiful city and by 1571, the Knights uprooted their quarters from Birgu to Valletta.
Laparelli had to leave the island a year before that, but Girolamo Cassar, Malta’s OG architect replaced him.
Girolamo supervised the construction of instrumental buildings like the Sacra Infermeria, the Co-Cathedral, seven of the Auberges and the Magisterial Palace.
By the late 16th Century, Valletta grew considerably in size, and people from all over the island started moving there for safety and fashion.
Mdina was going out of fashion by this time, because of Valletta’s hip new style and lustre.
Valletta’s wide and straight streets were built in a grid-like structure — with defence, hygiene and ventilation in mind. The steep streets and weirdly constructed steps were made for the Knights to walk and charge better in their armour during battles.
The city was adorned by talented artists and architects from allover Europe. Mattia Preti, Caravaggio, Francesco Buonamici and even Floriani worked on church designs, fortifications, works of art and baroque masterpieces for the glorious city.
We think that it’s for the best if we conclude this entry here, since evidently we are going to need at least another entry to end our affair with the lovely Knights of St. John.
You can read about forts if you’re on a historical rampage though.
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