The Auberge d'Italie ( mt, Berġa tal-Italja, it, Albergo d'Italia) was an auberge in

Birgu Birgu ( mt, Il-Birgu , it, Vittoriosa), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ("''Victorious City''"), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was built in the sixteenth century to house knights of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

from the

langue Langue is a municipality in the Valle Department, Honduras. The town is located near the border of El Salvador and is a regional Hammock making center. Most of the town is made up of sharecroppers and day laborers. There are usually Mormon miss ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

Auberge

The auberge was located in the northern part of Birgu, close to

Fort St. Angelo Fort St. Angelo ( mt, Forti Sant'Anġlu or ''Fortizza Sant'Anġlu'') is a bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the medieval period as a castle called the ''Castrum Maris'' ( en, C ...

and far from the ''collacchio'' where the other auberges were found. It was built between 1553 and 1554 to a design by Niccolò Bellavante, on the site of an earlier auberge. Part of the building was used as a naval hospital, and it also included a chapel dedicated to St.

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

Adaptive reuse

The auberge remained in use until April 1571, when the Italian knights moved to a larger Auberge d'Italie in the new capital city

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

. This auberge was later incorporated into the Grandmaster's Palace, and a third

Auberge d'Italie The Auberge d'Italie ( mt, Berġa tal-Italja, it, Albergo d'Italia) is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built at various stages in the late 16th century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Italy, and it ori ...

was built in 1579. A Church of St. Catherine was also built adjacent to the third auberge. In the 1900s or before, the building was the host of the Fabbrica di Mobiglia Carmelo Seychel Carpentiere. A photo by Richard Ellis is publicly available, portraying the full facade. Another photograph of the building was taken circa 1935, when part of the building was a residence.

Architecture and remains

Auberge d'Italie was included on the Antiquities List of 1925, together with the other auberges in Birgu. The building was severely damaged by aerial bombardment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The site was rebuilt as housing units between 1961 and 1963, and some features of the auberge were incorporated into the new buildings. These houses are regarded as being of a sub-standard nature. Today, the only remains of the auberge are a

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

, a partially defaced coat of arms, the base of a balcony, and some mouldings on the façade. These remains were scheduled as a Grade 2 property on 2 December 2009, and they are also listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mon ...

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{Auberges Palaces in Birgu Buildings and structures completed in 1554 Buildings and structures in Malta destroyed during World War II Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Defunct hospitals in Malta 1554 establishments in Malta