Grand Master's Palace

The Grand Master's Palace occupies a large block on Palace Square in Valletta, Malta, between Republic Street and Merchants Street. Construction began in the 1570s, soon after the founding of Valletta, to designs by Girolamo Cassar, and the building served as the residence of the Grand Masters of the Order of St John. After the French occupation of 1798 and the British takeover in 1800 it became the residence of the governors of Malta, and after independence in 1964 it housed the Maltese Parliament until 2015. It is now the official office of the President of Malta, and the State Rooms are open to the public when not in official use. The exterior is plain Mannerist limestone with long wooden balconies, but the interior is arranged around two courtyards, Neptune Court and Prince Alfred Court. The State Rooms include the Throne Room, the Hall of Supreme Council and the Ambassadors' Hall, decorated with painted friezes depicting episodes from the Great Siege of 1565 by Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, and with tapestries woven at the Gobelins factory in France known as the Teinture des Indes. The Palace Armoury, a separate part of the complex, displays one of the largest surviving collections of arms and armour of the Knights, including suits of armour made for individual Grand Masters such as Alof de Wignacourt. The display is thematic rather than strictly chronological, with rooms arranged by function. Restoration and conservation of the frescoes and state rooms has been carried out by Heritage Malta over many years, and the building is in good condition. Parts of the palace remain closed on days of state functions, so visitors should check the schedule. The palace gives a clear sense of how the Order administered the island before the nineteenth century and how the building has remained a seat of authority under three successive regimes.