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Valletta is an ornate and Baroque city built by the Knights of Malta, however one of its most famous historical buildings is in the Neo-Classical style which contrasts with the rest of the city. Welcome to Malta’s (Polish) National Library, or Biblioteca, as it is still known affectionately to this day.
The Knights always intended the Biblioteca to be their library. Few Valletta buildings, other than churches, are still used for their original purpose but unlike other buildings, other this one was returned to its original role.
Before the Knights arrived, there was no library to speak of and in 1555, French Grand master Claude de la Sengle decided to do something about this. He decreed that after a Knight’s death, the Treasury of the Order should take all books belonging to them; Knights could dispose of their other goods any way they wished but not books.
A literary tax, if you will.
By 1760, the collection had grown substantially. A French Knight called Jean-Louis Guérin de Tencin was a literary sort and purchased a collection of 9,700 books from a bishop, using this huge collection, together with his own and some other donations, to open the first library in Malta. He died before he could raise funds to maintain it so the Knights added his huge collection to the Treasury.
In 1786, Grand Master de Rohan commissioned Polish architect Stefano Ittar to build a new library. Ittar had just spent some years in Catania rebuilding it after the earthquake of 1693.
Inspired by fresh styles of architecture he had seen in the rebuilding of Catania, Ittar came up with the idea of something which was completely new for Malta at the time. Maybe he thought he wouldn’t be able to compete with the flamboyant Baroque style of the other buildings, or maybe he felt like experimenting a little after his work reconstructing Catania. The result is the neo-classical National Library we have today.
As it turned out, he finished building it in 1796, by which time, the French had occupied the islands and the building was not used as a library. We know the British used it as a club for army and navy officers until 1812 when Sir Hildebrand Oakes, Commissioner of Malta, decided to use it as a library again, inaugurating it on June 4.
In 1936, the library became the Royal Library of Malta and the National Library, as we now call it, is still housed in this building to this day. The open square in front of the library is a much-loved meeting place made popular by the cafes that occupy this noble space.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know where the library is. Few know that were it not for the artistic flair of this Polish man, we Maltese would not have this neo-classical treasure to call our own.
Antoine Borg
This article first appeared in: http://www.unexpectedtraveller.com/Blog/tag/valletta/
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