Auberge de Castille

Laetitia who loves the outdoors, making new friends and blogging at Laetitia's World, tells the story of the Auberge de Castille:

When the Knights of St John built the city of Valletta they constructed an auberge or inn for each seven of their eight langues (languages, or nationalities). The auberges were intended mainly as the residences of knights who did not have a home of their own in Malta. They were also used to receive people of distinction who, in their travels, found themselves in Malta and in need of hospitality.

The Auberge de Castille was the official seat of the knights of the Langue of Castille, Leon and Portugal – one of the most powerful of the Order, its Head being the Grand Chancellor...The Auberge de Castille is situated at the highest point of Valletta and originally looked on the rolling countryside beyond, giving it a unique vantage-point unsurpassed by any other building in the city..

The building is the finest work of eighteenth century baroque architecture in Valletta. The facade is rich yet not over-decorated and its proportions, and especially its fenestration, are particularly pleasing. Ornamentation is concentrated in the crowning cornice, the window mouldings and surrounds, and above all in the riot of clustered sculpture of the very rich central focus..

The building was damaged during the siege of the French forces (1799–1800) as well as during the Second World War (1939–1945). Following the departure of the Knights of St. John, the Auberge de Castille served as the headquarters of the French occupation forces between 1798 and 1800 and as the British army headquarters after 1800. It became the Office of the Prime Minister in 1972. Across the street from the Auberge is a hotel with the same name Castille Hotel.