The auberges of the Knights

Abstract

Amongst the precious legacies left by the Knights of Malta after their near-270 year stay in Malta, are most certainly those in realms of architecture, as epitomized in the splendid edifices in the forms of Auberges which adorned the new fortress city of Valletta built after the Great Siege of 1565, when the Knights, aided by the Maltese, defeated the might of the Ottoman Empire. These auberges were in effect hostels or inns owned by each of the Langues or Languages belonging to the many countries that formed the Order, namely, Castille et Leon, Italia, France, I'Allemagne, Aragon, Auvergne, Province and Baviere et Angleterre. Very modest versions of these inns had been originally set up at Vittoriosa where the Knights had first settled when they occupied Malta in 1530. The Order however, preferred the inland waters of the Grand Harbour as their place of settlement, than the medieval city of Mdina in the north-west part of the Island, once the Order had become both a military and maritime power.