Philatelic Photograph - Auberge de Castille - Valletta, Malta

Auberge de Castille

Valletta, Malta

N 35° 53.747 E 014° 30.664

Short Description: 

The Auberge de Castille is located in Castille Square on the highest point of the City of Valetta.

Long Description:

The original Auberge de Castille was built in the 1570s to house the Knights of the Order of Saint John that came from from the Knights Hospitaller of Castile, León, and Portugal. In the 1740's the building was dismantled and completely rebuilt in the Spanish Baroque style, to a design by Andrea Belli, under the authority of the Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca. Construction was supervised by Dominico Cachia.

In 1798 the French, under Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded and occupied Malta and expelled the Order of St. John. The building became the headquarters of the French military. When Malta became a British protectorate in 1805, the Auberge de Castille became the headquarters of the British military in Malta. In 1972, after achieving independence from the British in 1964, the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta moved into Auberge de Castille.

The stamp was issued by Malta in 2012 as part of a set of 8 stamps. It shows the Auberge de Castille as painted by the Danish artist Fredrick de Brocktorff (1775 -1850).