Landsitze, Schlösser und Paläste in Malta - ein Überblick (Teil 1).

Hardly any country in Europe has such a high density of historical fortifications and noble residences as Malta, starting with Bronze Age fortifications, up to fortresses and palaces of the Order of St. John (1530-1798) and the fortifications of the British colonial rulers (1800-1930s). Many aspects of this subject are little known to central European scholars, including Malta's early modern palaces and mansions, which will be presented here in a brief overview. In 1530, Emperor Charles V gave the Maltese Islands to the Knights of St. John as an "eternal fiefdom". After the Turkish siege in 1565, the Order founded its new capital, the Renaissance fortress town of Valletta on the Grand Harbour. Napoleon caused the demise of the religious state of Malta in 1798. With the help of British troops the Maltese forced the French to surrender in 1800. In 1814 Malta became a British crown colony. Landowners built tower houses on their lands, suitable for the defence of smaller-armed troops. The first torri originated in the late Middle Ages, a larger number in the early modern period. Characteristic elements were machicolations and small loopholes for firearms. Due to frequent Muslim raids, the Militia had been set up in Malta. It used noble residences militarily. Later, tower houses and palaces of Maltese nobles were included in the watchtower and defensive system of the Order of St. John. In the late 1580s to the 1750s, country castles were built, which symbolically suggested defensiveness with towers or "bastions", corner guards, merlons, drawbridges and ditches. Some have tower parapets containing gun gates (Verdala Palace, 1586/1588), which were mostly barely usable (Selmun Palace, mid-18^th century). Four-towered palaces partly resemble Malta's "Wignacourt Towers", coastal forts. Due to tower-like corner attachments on the platform, the appearance of some tower houses of the 17^th century was visually aligned with that of the forts. Most of the summer palaces built in Malta by individual grandmasters, inquisitors and nobles are not of a uniform type. There are many palaces in Malta's towns and villages. Most of them are located in Mdina, the old capital and seat of the Maltese nobility, in Rabat, the unwalled suburb of Mdina and in Birgu and Valletta, successive residence cities of the Knights of St. John. But palazzi can also be found in villages. In several cities there are palaces called "Siculo- Norman", which are often perceived as Norman buildings, but these buildings in Birgu, Mdina and Rabat/Gozo are late Gothic palaces of the 15^th century. These noble houses with striking biforate windows on the upper floors of the main facades correspond to largely contemporary buildings in Spain and southern Italy or on Rhodes/Greece. During the 16th century, individual palaces and townhouses with striking décor were created: in the largely simple, unstructured facades, the piano nobile was adorned with windows framed with socalled Melitan mouldings. A distinctive element of many early modern palaces and townhouses is a balcony on the first floor with a stone parapet (in relief). Since the second half of the 18th century, the wooden balconies typical of Malta have prevailed. The most magnificent baroque city palaces were built in Mdina and Valletta, many of which show Italian influences. Maltese noble families (partly wealthy in Sicily) were oriented towards palazzi in Catania, Palermo and Syracusa. Its facade décor is more extensive and plastic than that of the Renaissance palaces. Since the 18^th century, there have also been influences of French palace architecture and the Parisian hotel type. With the end of the early modern era, Malta did not experience "the end of the castles". After the fall of the Order of St. John in 1798, villas and palaces were built during British colonial rule. The period from burgeoning romanticism around 1800 to the castle and palace reception in the 20^th century is therefore described in detail in the next issue of this magazine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]