Valletta's two March anniversaries in 1566 and 1571

Valletta, rightly known as the “city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”, has a special affinity with the month of March. It was during this month that its foundation stone was officially laid down in 1566, thus signifying the official birth of the new city.

Almost exactly five years later, the Convent of the Order of St John moved from Vittoriosa to the still incomplete new town, thus effectively transforming Valletta into the new capital city of Malta.

Portrait of Pope Pius IV by the Circle of Scipione Pulzone (1544-98). Photo: En-Wikipedia.org

Pope Pius IV sent his engineer Francesco Laparelli, born in Cortona on April 5, 1521, to advise the Order but he did not arrive before December 29 due to adverse weather conditions. In the meantime, Pope Pius passed away on December 9, but Laparelli’s commission was not revoked by the new Pope, Pius V. So he remained at Malta to advise the Order, led by the redoubtable but ageing Grand Master Jean de Valette, on the building of the new fortified city on what was known as Mount Sceberras, the rather narrow peninsula separating Marsamxett Harbour and Grand Harbour.

Action was immediately taken to present plans and corrections but, by March 1566, a final approval to Laparelli’s schemes had not yet materialised. Yet, the decision to build the new city was final. Although the final decision on the actual plans was still pending, the Order decided to go ahead with the laying of the ‘foundation’ stone. The chosen dated was Thursday, March 28, 1566.

Francesco Laparelli (1521-1570), the engineer who planned Valletta in 1566, in a portrait dated 1568. Photo: Vita Del Capitano Francesco Laparelli Da Cortona, by Filippo De Venuti, Livorno, 1761

On that historic March morning, a spectacular scene was enacted on the site where the church of Our Lady of Victory was later built. A richly decorated altar was set up and the vice-prior of the conventual church, Fra Jean Pierre Mosquet, celebrated High Mass in honour of the Holy Spirit, with the sermon for the occasion being delivered by Fra Spirito Pelo Angosciola.

The Order’s historian, Giacomo Bosio, gives a description of the event and remarked about the gospel, which recounted when the only son of a weeping widow of Naim was restored to life; likewise, the Order of St John was “being restored to a new life and Holy Mother Church rejoiced at the revival of her beloved, favourite Order”.

Various dignitaries were present for the occasion, including Bishop Fra Domenico Cubelles, the Grand Prior of the Conventual Church Fra Antonio Cressino, Grand Crosses, Knights and Maltese.

After Mass, the celebrant blessed the sites earmarked for the main land-front fortifications and Grand Master de Valette laid the foundation stone in position. Beneath the stone were placed several coins and medals, and on it was inscribed the following:

Monument to Grand Master Jean de Valette in Valletta, 2012, by Joseph Chetcuti (1960-2019)

Grand Master Jean de Valette, who ruled over Malta from 1557 to 1568.

“Fra Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the Order of the Hospital of Jerusalem, mindful of the danger to which a year before his Knights and the Maltese people were exposed during the siege by the Turks, having consulted the heads of the Order about the construction of a new city and the fortifications of the same, by walls, ramparts and towers, sufficient to resist any attack and to repel or, at least, keep away the Turkish enemy, on Thursday, March 28, 1566, after the invocation of Almighty God, of the Virgin mother of God, of the Patron Saint John the Baptist and of the other saints, to grant that the work commenced should lead to the prosperity and the happiness of the whole Christian community and to the advantage of the Order, laid the foundation stone of the city on the hill called Sceberras by the inhabitants, and having granted for the arms of the city a golden lion on a red shield, he wished it to be called by his name, Valletta.”

Every fortress then fired artillery salutes and Francesco Laparelli came forward to pay homage to the grand master who, as a token of gratitude for his hard work, gave him a gold chain worth 300 scudi.

In those days, it was customary to place the foundation stone on one side of the main gate that led into the new fort or town but, in the case of Valletta, the exact site is unknown.  Bosio is rather equivocal about the matter and just writes that “they returned to the front of the proposed site of St John’s bastion where it was intended to lay the foundation stone, a hole having been formed for that purpose, although others would suggest that it was, in fact, laid on one side of the main entrance known as St George’s Gate.”

Detail from a 1566 engraving by Domenico Zenoi (fl. 1540-80) showing the Grand Master and knights inspecting works on the fortifications of Valletta. Courtesy: The Late Chev. Roger De Giorgio

The only person who was present at the ceremony to leave a description of what happened was Laparelli, who describes the foundation stone as having been carved to exhibit the Order’s eight-pointed cross. He also wrote that the stone was placed in a cavity cut into the rock to receive it, together with commemorative coins and medals. According to Laparelli, the site still had loose stone all around together with Turkish trenches, shelters and graves, all reminiscent of the 1565 siege but which had not as yet been removed or levelled.

Although, traditionally, the site of the foundation stone has always been said as being somewhere in the church of Our Lady of the Victory, the truth of the matter is that (1) its exact location is unknown, and (2) it was not a stone laid over a foundation wall but a large block (vide its long inscription) set in a hole cut in the rock. This may seem controversial to some ears but it is the only conclusion to be drawn from the meagre sources available.

The foundation stone’s exact location is unknown

An idealistic ‘likeness’ of the Maltese engineer Girolamo Cassar (c.1520-c.1592), who succeeded Francesco Laparelli. Photo: L’arte – Periodico Patrio-Bimensile, I, 2, 7, December 1862. Courtesy: Malta National Library

Modern-style monument to Francesco Laparelli and Girolamo Cassar in Valletta, 2016, by John Grima (b. 1967).

Laparelli’s plans gained final approval in April 1566 and construction work went on unabated. Ironically, neither De Valette nor Laparelli lived to see the completion of Valletta. The grand master expired on August 21, 1568 (exactly 11 years after he had acceded to the magistracy), while the engineer died of the plague in Candia, Crete, on October 26, 1570, when on active service on the pope’s galley squadron. The Maltese engineer Girolamo Cassar succeeded Laparelli and was responsible for completing the city’s enceinte and, subsequently, for planning the Order’s public buildings.

Grand Master Pietro del Monte, who ruled over Malta from 1568 till 1572.

De Valette was succeeded by Pietro del Monte, who ruled till 1572. He showed great interest in the construction work being carried out and regularly crossed over from Vittoriosa to Valletta to inspect the progress on the building of the city’s walls. To do this, he had to walk a longish distance up to where the city’s main gate (now known as City Gate) was sited, since no gate overlooking Grand Harbour had been planned. To eliminate this discomfort for all, Laparelli planned a gate, subsequently named Porta del Monte (replaced by the British in the late 19th century by Victoria Gate). By 1571, Valletta’s fortifications were in an advanced stage of construction but the city was almost devoid of buildings.

The Order’s Chapter-General met in 1571 and concluded its deliberations on February 4. One of its decisions was that the Order was to move from Vittoriosa to Valletta the following March (1571) and there establish its permanent quarters. Grand Master Del Monte was in full concurrence with this decision, more so since a Turkish attack on Malta was to be expected after the Porte had concluded a truce with Venice. Although suitable accommodation in Valletta was conspicuous by its absence, it was thought that the rough living conditions would result in the buildings being constructed at a faster pace.

The grand master’s mind was made up. The date chosen for the transfer was to be Sunday, March 18, 1571, and, according to Bosio, “nobody dared to contradict him” (that is, Del Monte).

The date for the transfer was March 18, 1571

On this memorable day, High Mass was sung at Vittoriosa’s St Lawrence church (then being used as the Order’s conventual church) by the Grand Prior, Fra Antonio Cressino, in the presence of Del Monte and the Order’s dignitaries.

Porta del Monte (or Porta Marina) in 1848 at Valletta, by Michele Bellanti (1807-83). Photo: The Bellanti Family – Contributions To Art And Culture In Malta, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, edited by William Zammit, 2010.

After Mass, a solemn procession was formed and the Knights, headed by the grand master, were rowed across Grand Harbour accompanied by gun salutes. They landed at the place then known as Porta Del Monte (now known as Victoria Gate), where the grand master was greeted by Valletta’s first governor, Fra Cristoforo de Boleur dit Montgauldry who, in the presence of various officials, presented his leader with the symbolic keys of the city. Del Monte accepted them and all present proceeded to the church of Our Lady of Victory to offer thanksgiving to God.

The Knights had arrived in Valletta, the city where they were destined to remain for the next 227 years.