Conrad Thake, B.E.&A. (Hons.), M.A., Ph. D. (Berkeley), A.&C.E.
Architect & Planning Consultant , Valetta - Malta
E-mail: cthake@waldonet.net.mt
Valletta - Re-inventing the ‘City of the Order’ for the 21st century
“Give me time and I will give you life”
Francesco Laparelli (1522-1570) - architect, town planner, and military engineer, responsible for the planning of
the city of Valletta, 1566-1569. Quotation from Codex Laparelli, Cortona, Italy.
The city of Valletta was conceived in the aftermath of the Great Siege of 1565, when the valiant
knights of the Order of St John managed against all odds to survive a massive Turkish onslaught to
seize Malta. The sixteenth century was an age of new towns, but few if any are so well documented as
Valletta. Valletta as the new ‘City of the Order’ was planned and built in the tradition of the Italian
Renaissance Ideal Cities and the historic documentation reveals that military considerations by far
outweigh aesthetic considerations; the new town situated on a restricted peninsula had to fit its
defences. Valletta’s raison d’être was primarily that of a fortified military city serving the needs of the
knights of the Order who ruled over the Maltese islands from 1530 to 1798.
More than four centuries have elapsed since the foundation of Valletta, and the historic city had to
adapt itself to the current social and economic realities. Although Valletta still retains its preeminence
as the island’s main administrative, commercial, and cultural centre it has over the last thirty years
experienced a sharp decline in its resident population. Over this period there has been a steady exodus
of residents migrating to new suburban areas. Today, Valletta’s current population stands at just over
7,000 which is approximately a third of its population in the late 1960s. The presentation will outline
some of the factors that have contributed to this decline in its resident population.
One of the major urban challenges facing Valle tta with its ‘World Heritage City’ status lies in its
potential to adapt and re-invent itself from a fortified sixteenth-century town into an attractive capital
city suited for 21st -century living. Any new urban interventions in response to current economic forces
and social aspirations would have to respect the historic memory of the city. The presentation will
highlight a number of recent architectural and urban projects implemented in the Valletta which have
sought to re-adapt and re-invent historic buildings for new uses. As a result of sensitive design the
redefined buildings and spaces have succeeded in maintaining the city’s delicate historic continuum
whilst ensuring economic viability.