Pietro Paolo Floriani (1585–1638) was an Italian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who designed military and theatrical buildings.

Life and work

Floriani was born on 26 April 1585 in the town of

Macerata Macerata () is a city and '' comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza r ...

to Pompeo Floriani and Claudia Rotelli. In 1606 he married Maria Fedeli, but she died in 1608 while giving birth to their daughter Camilla. In 1608 he went to Crema where he was employed by the governor of the city Orazio del Monte. In 1611 he went to

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche ...

, and by July 1612 he was already highly regarded among the gentlemen of Macerata. In autumn 1612 Floriani settled in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, where King Philip III commissioned him for a number of projects including to explore the fortifications of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

to plan a conquest of the city. In 1617 Floriani was sent to work for the Governor of Milan Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who had begun an extensive defensive engineering program. Floriani spent about a year in Milan, and although the King of Spain invited him to return to the Algiers project, he declined as he had been commissioned by Archduke Leopold V to fortify the town of Brisach in Hungary. He then took part in strengthening the defences of

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He was present at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. Within the next couple of years he designed both military and non-military buildings in other cities including

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, until he resigned as a military engineer in 1624. He then had a successful military career and was eventually appointed as a warden in

Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...

in December 1627. He then married Lucrezia Gardina, the widow of Lorenzo Costa. In early 1629 he was appointed by Carlo Barberini and so he went to

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, and he also worked for

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

In 1635, the Grandmaster of the Order of Saint John Fra

Antoine de Paule Fra' Antoine de Paule (c. 1551 – 9 June 1636) was elected the 56th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (the Order of Malta) on 10 March 1623. He died on Malta thirteen years later, on 9 June 1636, after a long illness and at the age of 85 ...

invited Floriani to discuss how to strengthen the landward fortifications of

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 ...

, the capital city 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 ...

, over which the Order was sovereign. A line of fortifications was designed by Floriani, and these became known as the

Floriana Lines The Floriana Lines ( mt, Is-Swar tal-Furjana) are a line of fortifications in Floriana, Malta, which surround the fortifications of Valletta and form the capital city's outer defences. Construction of the lines began in 1636 and they were nam ...

. The area between Valletta and the new fortifications eventually became a town in its own right, and was named Floriana after the engineer. In 1637 he went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and to his hometown Macerata, before being called back to Ferrara. He died there on 27 May 1638. Floriani had written his will in 1632 in which he asked to be buried with his brother Felice who had died in 1630 at the church of Santa Croce in Macerata. The church was later destroyed by the French in 1799.

Legacy

Floriani is a key figure in his native town of

and throughout the region of the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

due to his multifaceted personality which is revealed in two of his annotated manuscripts from the Compagnoni Floriani di Macerata with sketches of theatrical scenes. He is also widely remembered as an architect for designing the Floriana Lines and being the namesake of Floriana. In 2006, a documentary was made about his life, although it included some fictional elements as well. The town of Floriana was twinned with Macerata in 2007. The Floriana Local Council also built a statue of the architect in Pjazza Robert Samut. The monument was designed by a young Maltese architect Chris Ebejer and was unveiled on 17 April 2009 by the Mayor of Floriana Nigel Holland, in the presence of the Mayor of Macerata, Giorgio Meschini and Countess Carla Compagnoni Floriani, a descendant of the engineer, and other guests.The Floriani Monument
. Floriana Local Council. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Floriani, Pietro Paolo 1585 births 1638 deaths Italian engineers People from Macerata Floriana 17th-century Italian architects