Auberge d'Auvergne et Provence ( mt, Berġa ta' Alvernja u Provenza) is an auberge in

Birgu Birgu ( mt, Il-Birgu , it, Vittoriosa), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ("''Victorious City''"), is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was built to house knights of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

from the langues of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

and

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...

. Auberge d'Auvergne et Provence was built in the 1530s, incorporating earlier buildings. Parts of the ground floor and basement are believed to date back to the 15th century, while older remains possibly date back to the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period. The auberge is reported to have been functional by 1531, and its existence is confirmed by the Order's records in August 1532. The auberge was originally built as two separate auberges, with Auvergne on the right and Provence on the left. At some point, these were joined and shared a single façade. The building formed a compact block with other auberges next to it, namely

Auberge d'Aragon The Auberge d'Aragon ( mt, Berġa ta' Aragona) is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in 1571 to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Aragon, Navarre and Catalonia. It is the only surviving auberge in Vall ...

and

Auberge de France Auberge de France ( mt, Berġa ta' Franza) refers to two auberges in Valletta, Malta. They were both built in the 16th century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of France, which induced the entire Kingdom of France e ...

. The façade consists of a central doorway, with smaller doors on each side. The central doorway is embellished with a moulded cornice. The apertures have typical Melitan mouldings. The auberge continued to house the langues of Auvergne and Provence until the building of a separate

Auberge d'Auvergne The Auberge d'Auvergne ( mt, Berġa ta' Alvernja) was an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in the 16th century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Auvergne. It became a courthouse in the 19th century, and it ...

and

Auberge de Provence Auberge de Provence ( Maltese: ''Berġa ta' Provenza'') is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in the sixteenth century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Provence. It now houses the National Museum of Arch ...

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 ...

in the 1570s and 1580s. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925, together with the other auberges in Birgu. In the years before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the right side of the building was partially demolished to make way for a modern residence. After the war, the remaining part of the auberge was divided into separate houses and a shop, and the structure was modified by the addition of a timber balcony. Today, the section of the auberge that housed the langue of Provence remains mostly intact, despite some alterations. The other section, belonging to the langue of Auvergne, has lost part of its façade, although it retains the entrance and a small balcony. The interior of the two auberges remain mostly intact in their original state. It was listed as a Grade 1 national monument on 22 December 2009, and it is also listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mo ...

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
Houses completed in 1531 Palaces in Birgu Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands 1531 establishments in Malta {{Malta-stub