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The Magisterial Palace & Armoury, Valletta
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As its name implies, the Magisterial Palace served as official and private residence of the Grand Masters of the Order. It was erected by Gerolamo Cassar between 1572 and 1580 to the order of Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere. Its plain façade, 100 metres long, follows Cassar's mannerist style, with the characteristic corner quoins and the massive cornice surmounted with a high balustrade.
Originally, the Palace had one single doorway, the one nearer Archbishop Street - the second door and the balcony were commissioned by Grand Master Pinto in the second part of the 18th century.
During colonial days, British Governors used the Palace as the administrative centre. Today, the Palace serves a dual role: the office of the President and the seat of the Maltese Parliament.
The main door leads through a large vestibule to the lower court, with its prominent Neptune statue - hence the name, Neptune's Court.
The door nearer Republic Square leads to Prince Alfred's Courtyard, dominated by the 18th Century Pinto Clock and decorated with a number of exotic trees planted during the visit of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1858.
The first floor, or Piano Nobile, contains the State Rooms and Apartments, the President's Offices and the House of Representatives. Three imposing corridors known as the Armoury, the Entrance and the Prince of Wales corridors, give access to the State Chambers. A spacious circular staircase, with shallow steps leading to the ground floor, opens into the Entrance Corridor.
The main rooms and apartments comprise:
the Tapestry Chamber (or Small Council Room),
the Banqueting Hall,
the Grand Council Chamber,
the Ambassador's Room and
the Pages Room.
The President's Apartments are not open to the public. The President occupies the room which was formerly the Grand Master's bedroom.
At the rear side, there is the House of Representatives which is accessible from a staircase in Prince Alfred's Courtyard and also from a flight of steps in the Armoury Corridor. Until 1974, this hall housed the Armoury of the Knights. The Parliament Hall is rectangular in shape. It is furnished in modern style, with forty seats on either side for Government Members and the Opposition. Admission of visitors is not allowed except by permission of the Speaker of the House.
As already indicated the Armoury occupies two large vaulted rooms in the rear groundfloor.
The long façade of the Palace borders the south side of Palace Square, with the columned Main Guard building on the opposite side.
THE PALACE ARMOURY
The Palace Armoury dates from 1763 when Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca was Grand Master. At the time, the Order's Armoury
had weapons for 25,000 men, but most of these arms were very old and obsolete.
During the Napoleonic occupation (1798-1800) a considerable amount of these arms were taken by the French troops. In 1900, during British rule, Sir Francis Laking, the King's Armourer, re-arranged and catalogued the arms - 5721 pieces were registered.
Until 1976, the Armoury occupied a large hall at the rear side of the Palace, but in 1976, this was taken over for use by the Maltese Parliament. The Armoury was then taken to its present venue on the groundfloor.
Nearly all the items are authentic pieces from the early years of the Order in Malta i.e. the period before and after the Siege of 1565.
Among the numerous exhibits, there are genuine suits of armour, pole arms such as pikes, halberds, forks and partisans, bows and arrows, powder flasks, swords, firearms and various types of ordinance. One of the guns is a rare 18th century type with its muzzle reinforced with hide and tarred rope. There are also several iron and stone cannon balls, possibly relics of the Great Siege. Two heavily decorated suits of armour belonged to Grand Masters Alof de Wignacourt and Martino Garzes respectively are on display. Another suit of an unusual size is attributed to the French Bailiff, Jean de Verdelin.
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