Castellania - Valletta, Malta - Baroque Architecture on Waymarking.com

The Castellania, the Knights Law Court, is a the Baroque style limestone building built in 1760 under the Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto to design of the architect Francesco Zerafa, and completed by architect Giuseppe Bonici. It replaced another law court on the same site that was build in 1574.

The central part of the building features an ornate marble entrance one finds the most decorative part with a concentration of decoration mostly made of marble. The upper part of the decoration has two female figures representing justice, on the left side, holding a sword and (once had a set of scales in her left hand), and on the right side a figure representing truth with a mirror in one hand and a snake in the other. Above are angel blowing a horn and a cherub.

Above the portico are a pair of wrought iron balconies that were used to announce to the public major verdicts. Below the balconies is a cartouche with the inscription indicating that this is a place of justice created under Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto. The air is proper and the building was expanded and ornately renovated in 1763.

The building served as a courthouse and prison until the mid-19th century when the building was deemed too small, and the courts were moved to Auberge d'Auvergne. The Castellania was then briefly abandoned before being converted into an exhibition center, a tenant house, and a school. In 1895 the building became the headquarters for the Ministry of Health for Malta.

The Castellaria is listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.