Malta faced a turning-point in its architectural history when the Knights of St. John occupied the islands in 1530. For the first time ever, European building styles were introduced in Malta. With the help of Italian engineers and architects, the Order of St. John founded today’s capital Valletta in 1566 and built the impressive fortifications around the Grand Harbour.

The first Maltese architect, Gerolamo Cassar, was sent on a study tour through Italy to design the Order’s convent church, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Grand Master’s Palace as well as the Auberges for the different languages of the Order in Valletta. 

However, the first building boom slowed down when the Knights of St. John ran out of money. They had overreached themselves with the immensely expensive fortifications and with the building of Valletta. When the economy recovered at the end of the 17th century, Malta faced a second building boom.

The Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà, who had been trained in Rome, designed some of Malta’s most impressive ecclesiastical buildings, such as the cathedrals in Mdina and Victoria in Gozo as well as the parish churches of Birgu, Zejtun and Siggiewi in the late 17th century. Some years later, the architect Domenico Cachia built the splendid church of St. Helen in Birkirkara and the magnificent Auberge de Castille in Valletta, which nowadays serves as the parliament building.

The Knights continued to lavish their wealth on the decoration of the islands until their expulsion by Napoleon’s troops in 1798. When the British took over the island in 1814, there was hardly any need for new buildings. They merely built a few churches, houses and cemeteries in the neo-Gothic style as well as the Anglican Church and the Opera House in Valletta, the latter being destroyed completely in World War II.

Today’s architecture in Malta tries to combine the vernacular with the modern style. The Maltese limestone has always been and still is the most common building material on the archipelago, which gives the buildings its typical bright beige colour. Moreover, old buildings are being reconstructed and used for different purposes, such as Saint James Cavalier in Valletta, a former part of the Knights’ fortification which was turned into a Centre for Creativity.