GrandMaster's Palace

The building is a two storey edifice having five entrances and quadrangle in form occupying an area of 96 metres by 81 metres. Originally designed and built by the Maltese architect Gerolamo Cassar in 1572, the Palace had been altered and extended numerous times.

Most of these modifications are not documented precisely enough, so that it is hard to judge which elements belong to the original structure and which parts were later added. Even the Palace's building history proves to be a complicated matter: Gerolamo Cassar had to integrate two existing buildings in the Palace, one of which was the first Italian auberge.

Grandmaster Pietro del Monte liked the location with the large square in front so much that in 1571 he persuaded the Order to buy the site and to erect his Palace on it. However, when the building was finally finished two years later, the Grandmaster had already died and was succeeded by Grandmaster La Cassière. Today the Grandmaster Palace is the seat of the President of Malta and therefore only partly open to the public.

The 96-metre-long façade of the Palace was originally much plainer and can be compared to the Auberge d’Aragon when imagining how it must have looked like originally. The two main entrances, the balconies with the consoles as well as the balustrade on the roof all originate from the 18^th century. Moreover, the Palace originally had only one central courtyard, while today it consists of two courtyards, which are separated from each other by a corridor.

The right entrance leads into the Prince Alfred Court. The exotic trees in this courtyard were brought form Far Eastern British colonies in the mid-19^th century. The clockwork on the roof over the lion portal is an exact copy of the one on the Torre dell’Orologio in Venice. The second courtyard, Neptune Court, is named after the bronze sculpture which can be found between the palm trees here. A feature that belongs to the original structure is the huge stairway, which leads to the first floor. With about 2.90 metres it is actually the widest Renaissance staircase of its kind in Europe. On the first floor, the so-called Piano Nobile, one can find the State Rooms which nowadays serve as rooms for receptions of the Maltese President. The Armoury Corridor is a splendid long hall and the former armour chamber of the Knights of St. John. The paintings on the walls and ceiling were done by Niccolo Nasini da Siena in the 1720s. The portraits form a complete gallery of the Grandmasters in Malta.

Tapestry Chamber

Used to be the meeting room for the Parliament. Today, one can admire ten tapestries of the cycle “Les Tentures des Indes” (The Indian Hangings), which were produced at the Royal Gobelin workshop of Louis XIV. in 1700.

The original paintings were depicted from the works of Albert van den Eckout and Frans Post. These two artists accompanied the German Prince during his expedition to Africa and South America. The fauna, flora and indigenous inhabitants of the unknown continent were recorded by Albert van den Eckout whilst the landscapes were captured by Frans Post. The Prince donated these paintings to King Louis XIV of France.

On the accession as Grandmaster of the Order, Ramon Perellos (1697-1720) wanted to embellish the Council Room. He therefore sent the Knight commander to Paris. Fra Jean Jacquest des Mesmes who found the paintings the most appealing. On October 1708, Mesmes contracted the Royal Manufactory in Paris through its master weaver Le Blonde, and agreed to design the Tapestries according to the wall measurements of the Council Chamber. The tapestries were completed by March 1710 and were loaded to Malta.

The Brigantine of the Order encountered the corsairs at the Straits of Sicily and it was only after paying a good ransom that the brigantine was allowed to continue its journey to Malta. The State Dining Rooms exhibit portraits of the English Royal family. The attaching Hall of the Supreme Court is today the reception hall for the President. The frieze shows scenes from the Great Siege, which were painted by Matteo Perez, a student of Michelangelo, around 1580. The friezes in Ambassador’s Room and the Pages’ Waiting Room narrate scenes from the history of the Order of St. John in Palestine and Rhodes.

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