Auberge d'Angleterre () is an auberge in

Birgu Birgu ( , ), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), is an old Fortifications of Birgu, fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was built around 1534 (incorporating an earlier building) to house knights of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (religious society), military order. It was founded in the Crusader states, crusader K ...

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(whose members came from England,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

). It now houses a health centre, and is the best-preserved Hospitaller auberge in Birgu.

History

Auberge d'Angleterre incorporates an earlier single-storey building which originally belonged to a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

woman named Catherine Abela. The building was sold to the English knight Sir Clement West in December 1534, and he donated it to the langue of England in May 1535. The house was converted into the langue's headquarters, and a first floor was added at this point. The rear of Auberge d'Angleterre was linked to the now-destroyed Auberge d'Allemagne. The auberge is also located adjacent to the house of Sir

Oliver Starkey Sir Oliver Starkey (c.1523-1583/1586), was an English knight who lived in the 16th century. He was the only English knight present at the siege of Malta. It was wrongly assumed that he was buried in the crypt of St. John's Co-Cathedral i ...

, the secretary of Grand Master

Jean de Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de (la) Valette (; – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the , he fought with distinct ...

and one of the last English knights of the Order. The langue of England was suppressed in the mid-16th century during the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, so no English auberge was built in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

when the Order moved their capital in the 1570s. The langue was reestablished as the Anglo-Bavarian Langue in 1782, and it was housed in a former palace which became known as Auberge de Bavière. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925, together with the other auberges in Birgu. Until recently, Auberge d'Angleterre was used as a public library, and it also briefly housed a non-governmental organization The Three Cities Foundation. The auberge now houses the Vittoriosa Health Centre. Auberge d'Angleterre has survived intact, and it is the best-preserved Hospitaller auberge in Birgu. The building was scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument on 22 December 2009, and it is 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 ...

Architecture

Auberge d'Angleterre is built in the Melitan style, based on traditional Maltese architecture, and has a similar layout as

Auberge de France Auberge de France () refers to two auberges in Valletta, Malta. They were both built in the 16th century to house knights of the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John from the Langue (Knights Hospitaller), langue of France, which induced t ...

. It is a two-storey building with rooms built around a central

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 a ...

. The ''piano nobile'' is located at the first floor. It has a plain façade with a doorway topped by a circular window and flanked by windows on each side. The first floor has an overhanging open balcony above the doorway, again flanked by windows. The door and windows are all decorated by Melitan mouldings.

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{Authority control Palaces in Birgu Buildings and structures completed in 1534 Libraries in Malta Health centers Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands 1534 establishments in Malta