Auberge de France ( mt, Berġa ta' Franza) refers to two auberges in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

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 ...

. They were both built in the 16th 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 of France, which induced the entire

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

except for

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

and

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

which were separate langues. The first auberge was built sometime after 1570, and it is still partially intact. The second, larger auberge was built after 1588, and it was destroyed by aerial bombardment in 1942. The site of the latter is now occupied by the Workers' Memorial Building, which was constructed in the 1960s.

First auberge

Following the transfer of the capital city of Malta from

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 ...

, the langue of France had to move from its original auberge in Birgu to a new site in Valletta. The first French auberge in Valletta was built sometime after 1570, on a site bounded by Old Mint Street, South Street, Scots Street and Windmill Street, and it was designed by the Maltese architect

Girolamo Cassar Girolamo Cassar ( mt, Ġlormu Cassar, 1520 – 1592) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was the resident engineer of the Order of St. John, and was admitted into the Order in 1569. He was involved in the construction of Valletta, ...

. It remained in use until the construction of the second auberge sometime after 1588. The original auberge later temporary housed the German langue while Auberge d'Allemagne was undergoing repairs in 1604, and part of it was later leased to the Treasury to house the

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

of the Order until 1788. Parts of this building, including most of the façade except for the main doorway, are still in existence.

Second auberge

By the 1580s, this first auberge was too small to house the langue of France, so on 2 April 1588 the French langue requested to transfer its headquarters to a plot on the corner of South Street and Old Bakery Street. This site was occupied by the house of Bali Fra Christopher le Bolver dit Montgauldry, which was eventually incorporated into the new auberge. The second auberge is claimed to have been designed by Cassar, but there are other claims that suggest it was by another architect. The second auberge continued to house the langue of France until 1798, when the Order left Malta due to the French occupation. It was subsequently used for a number of purposes, and by the 1830s, it was the residence of the Commissary General. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925 together with the other auberges in Valletta. At the time of its destruction, the auberge was the headquarters of the Department of Education. On 8 April 1942, 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 opposing ...

, Auberge de France was hit by a German heavy-calibre bomb and it was completely destroyed. The ruins were cleared after the war and the Workers' Memorial Building was erected in its place in the 1960s. This building houses the offices of the General Workers' Union. The second Auberge de France was built in the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style, typical of its architect

. However, the building's layout differed from Cassar's usual design, since a pre-existing structure was integrated into the auberge. This resulted in an asymmetrical façade, with the main entrance being located to the right, and with its windows having a variety of designs and sizes. The auberge's

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

was located at the rear of the building. A plaque on the Workers' Memorial Building describes the auberge as "one of the finest buildings of the Knights of St. John".

References

{{Valletta Buildings and structures in Valletta Palaces in Valletta Mannerist architecture in Malta Houses completed in 1588 Buildings and structures demolished in 1942 Buildings and structures in Malta destroyed during World War II Limestone buildings in Malta 1942 disestablishments in Malta

First auberge

Second auberge

Further reading

References