The National Library of Malta will be holding its third public lecture on 'Properties of the Order of St John - Structural transformations in Valletta's houses' to be delivered by Mevrick Spiteri on Wednesday 30 January 2019 at 18:30. The lecture will focus on matters of architecture, social spaces and constructions of houses in Valletta as recorded in archival sources.
Property was a significant asset for the Order of St John. The economisation of built property encouraged by the Grand Masters’ prompted the set-up of autonomous foundations. These foundations, as their cabrei testify, acquired and changed property into valuable assets.
Their mastering of built properties transformed Valletta into a central property-hub, emphasizing these entities’ active engagement into socio-economic and commercial activities. Valletta’s houses are an example of this. The restructuring of houses into segregated spaces shifted from the notion of unified and spacious structures to a
conglomerate of separate living spaces in which knights, unrelated families, and merchants lived.
This lecture forms part of a series of 8 public lectures on Urban Landscapes spanning over 2018 and 2019. Entitled ‘Cities, Harbours, and Artefacts: transformations of an early modern landscape’, these series of public lectures are coordinated by Mevrick Spiteri and Maroma Camilleri. The remaining public lectures are to be held:
Lecture 4: 28 February 2019 at 18:30
'Maritime Spaces - Human Choices' by Prof. Timmy Gambin
Lecture 5: 26 March 2019 at 18:30
'Early Sales of Plots of Land in Valletta' by Prof. Stanley Fiorini
Lecture 6: 24 April 2019 at 18:30
'Fortress Aesthetics and its Silent Poetry - The Maltese Fortified Landscape and its Representation in Art' by Dr Stephen C. Spiteri
Lecture 7: 29 May 2019 at 18:30
'Of Markets and Melting-Pots - Commercial spaces in Early Modern Valletta' by Christian Mifsud
Lecture 8: 28 June 2019 at 18:30
'Malta's harbour in 1798 - the transformation of a new urban landscape' by Mevrick Spiteri
Admission is free. Public lectures will be followed by light refreshments.
For further information visit the National Library of Malta facebook page or send an email to events.library@gov.mt.
For further information visit the National Library of Malta facebook page or send an email to events.library@gov.mt.