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A Visit to Vittoriosa
Index
 Vittoriosa (known in Maltese as il-Birgu) - and the entire Cottonera area - has been in the local news lately, mostly because it is the site for some controversial development - which has at its objective the embellishment of the region. It is in this area that the Knights of St John established themselves before embarking on their Valletta "project" across the other side of the natural harbour.  My good friend, Neville, took me to two of the museums in the area - the Inquisitor's Palace in the heart of the old town of Vittoriosa, and the Maritime Museum on the shorefront of Vittoriosa ... 

 
The Inquisitor's Palace
Sixty-two inquisitors resided in this Palace over three centuries.  The original casa was a Norman building which served as a Court of Justice.  In 1574 the first Inquisitor took the building in his hands and the building was extended - until it could appropriately be called a palazzo.  The Inquisition was abolished by an edict of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.

 



The Prison Yard
As soon as we walked in into the Inquisitor's Palace we proceeded to the yard - just to get our bearings.  It's hard to think this was actually the yard where the Inquisitor's prisoners were allowed some fresh air.  The shrubs and trees are young so it must have been fairly bare when the Inquisitors were here.

The corridor on the left, with its Gothic arches, leads to the yard and the Kitchens located on the ground floor.  It's interesting to note that the same kitchen served the Inquisitor and his staff as well as the prisoners hosted in the cells on both levels. 
 Click on images to view in more detail

The Staircase
Inquisitor Francesco Stoppani constructed this staircase during his tenure of office between 1731 and 1735.  A grand staircase, visible from the entrance of a building, would show a person's or an institution's social standing and Stoppani's staircase sought to embellish the Palace as well as the respect for the office of the Inquisition.

   
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The Sundial
This isn't a particularly elaborate sundial (in fact it isn't at all spectacular!), but I thought it was worth mentioning.  It was inscribed into stone, from a first floor window, by one exemplary prison warden - Neapolitan Francesco Palombo in 1730.  The wardens would be required to check on the prisoners twice a day - once in the morning and later in the evening and the prison warden would regulate his duties by the sundial.
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The Coat of Arms
The main hall on the first floor, the camera d'udienza where the Inquisitor would greet his "guests", has a timber ceiling and a frieze of the coat of arms of the Inquisitors of Malta.

Click on image below to view coat of arms in detail

A few more images from the Inquisitor's Palace.  The first is from the ante camera which leads to the main hall of the Palace.  The friezes on the walls are particularly elaborate.

The second image shows a Maltese portable altar of the mid-eighteenth century.  The Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti held an exhibition of such altars in 2000 and it was received with high acclaim.

The third image shows a typical Maltese clock, known popularly as tal-lira.  This particular clock dates back to the mid-seventeenth century.  A few Maltese artisans still produce clocks of this type, some of which are gilded with gold leaf.  Incidentally, the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti held an exhibition of these clocks way back in 1992.  





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to enlarge

The Maritime Museum
The Maritime Museum, on the waterfront of Vittoriosa, is located in what was once the British Naval Bakery, built in 1842.  It was restored in recent years, and houses a number of expertly-made models of ships spanning centuries of Malta's maritime and naval history.



This is a model of a third-rate ship of-the-line, which would have been in use during the time of the Knights of St John, in the middle of the eighteenth century. This particular model was probably used in the local naval school.

The second image is of a humble life-size l dghajsa, used by local fishermen.  Boats of this size and structure are still in use.

Click on image to enlarge

The Ceremonial Barge
This is a model of the ceremonial barge of Grandmaster Adrian de Wignacourt of the late seventeenth century.
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 The HMS Hibernia
This wood carving has an interesting story.  It originally decorated the bow of HMS Hibernia, (Hibernia being the Latin for Ireland).  The figurehead shows the Celtic God Dagda, father of all and lord of perfect knowledge, who - with his playing of the harp, was able to call up and change the seasons of the year. When the ship was broken up the carving was kept in Malta and exhibited n the Cottonera area - where it became an object of sentimental value to  locals and sailors alike.  In 1971 it was transported to Portsmouth in England but was returned to Malta in 1994.

For more on the HMS Hibernia click here.

Crockery too
 Yes, there is lots to see at the Maritime Museum and the few pictures I'm showing here certainly don't do justice to the exhibits at this site!  It may seem strange that I decided to show some crockery on this page ... but you do know I have an interest in all things hospitality.  The crockery on the right is standard crockery from the Naval Officers' Mess dating to the beginning of the twentieth century. 




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to enlarge

The view from Fort St Angelo ... showing the fortified city of Valletta on the other side of the Grand Harbour ...  Unfortunately the Fort itself is in a sorry state and something must be done to restore the fort and return it to its former splendour!


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Look closely and you may find the the props in this picture familiar.  It's actually part of the training camp used in the blockbuster film Gladiator (starring Russell Crowe) which was mostly filmed in Malta.  Nothing historic about the actual set itself, but it is certainly located in a historical setting. 

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What's that ugly looking thing doing in the picture?  Well, I quite like this picture and it is my web site, so ...

The Grand Harbour's breakwater is in the background.  This photo was taken by Neville from the Fort itself. 


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 Neville pointed out the sorry state of this bell on the bastions of Fort St Angelo.  It certainly could with some urgent repair work, before the bell and its tower collapses!
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