Verdala Palace is a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

in the

Buskett Gardens The Buskett Gardens ( it, Boschetto) forming one of the few woodland areas in Malta, are located in the fertile valley of ''Wied il-Luq'' in Rabat. The 30 ha site lies to the west of Siġġiewi (Città Ferdinand) and just east of Dingli. The ...

, limits of

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( mt, Is-Siġġiewi, ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Southern Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa respectively. It ...

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 in 1586 during the reign of

Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle Fra' Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle (13 April 1531 – 4 May 1595) was the 51st Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1582 and 1595. History He is mainly remembered for the reconstruction of the hunting lodge at Boschetto which was rename ...

, and it now serves as the official summer residence of the

President of Malta The president of Malta ( mt, President ta' Malta) is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The President is indirect election, indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term a ...

History

The site of Verdala Palace was originally occupied by a hunting lodge, which was built in the 1550s or 1560s during the reign of Grand Master

Jean Parisot de la Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de la Valette (4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the ''Langue de ...

. The lodge was built in the '' Boschetto'', a large semi-landscaped area that was used by knights of the Order of Saint John for game hunting. The hunting lodge was expanded into a palace in 1586, during the reign of

. It was further embellished in the 17th and 18th centuries, during the reigns of

Giovanni Paolo Lascaris Giovanni Paolo Lascaris di Ventimiglia e Castellar ( Maltese: ''Laskri'') (28 June 156014 August 1657) was an Italian nobleman and Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. Early life Lascaris was born on 28 June 1560, the second son of Giannetto ...

and

António Manoel de Vilhena António Manoel de Vilhena (28 May 1663 – 10 December 1736) was a Portuguese nobleman who was the 66th Prince and Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 19 June 1722 to his death in 1736. Unlike a number of the other Grand ...

. During the French blockade of 1798–1800, the palace served as a military prison for French soldiers captured by the Maltese or British. During British rule, it became a silk factory, but it was eventually abandoned and fell into a state of disrepair. Some repairs were undertaken during the governorship of

Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby Major General Hon. Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby (6 July 178311 January 1837) was an Anglo-Irish military officer. Early life and education Ponsonby was the second of three sons of Frederick Ponsonby, Viscount Dungannon (who succeeded as ...

, and it was fully restored by Governor Sir William Reid in the 1850s. Prior to its restoration it was a temporal minor hospital between 1915 and 1916. It subsequently became the official summer residency of the Governors of Malta. It was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. On the outbreak of

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 ...

in 1939, works of art from the National Museum were stored at the palace for safekeeping. The palace was restored in 1982 and began to be used to host visiting heads of state. Over the years, the palace welcomed several distinguished guests, including: *

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

and

Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of ...

, King and Queen of the United Kingdom * Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia (1909) *

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...

and

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King- ...

, King and Queen of the United Kingdom (1912) *

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, King of the United Kingdom (1913 and 1943) *

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

, Emperor of Germany (1919) *

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

, Libyan dictator *

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

, President of Yugoslavia *

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

, President of Romania *

Giovanni Leone Giovanni Leone (; 3 November 1908 – 9 November 2001) was an Italian politician, jurist, and university professor. A founding member of the Christian Democracy (DC), Leone served as the President of Italy from December 1971 until June 1978. ...

, President of Italy Since 1987, the Verdala Palace has been in use as the summer residence of the

, and it is generally closed to the public except for the August Moon Ball held annually in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Architecture

Verdala Palace was designed by

Girolamo Cassar Girolamo Cassar ( mt, Ġlormu Cassar, 1520 – 1592) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was the resident engineer of the Order of St. John, and was admitted into the Order in 1569. He was involved in the construction of Valletta, ...

, a Maltese architect mostly known for the design of many buildings in the capital

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 ...

. The palace is an example of

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought ...

, and its design is possibly influenced by

Villa Farnese The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a pentagonal mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately north-west of Rome. This villa should not be confused with the Palazzo Farnese a ...

Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts. The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which ...

. The building has a rectangular plan, with pentagonal bastion-like turrets on each corner. The building itself has two floors, while the corner turrets are about five storeys high. The entire structure is also surrounded by a stone quarried ditch. Although the turrets and ditch gave the palace the outward appearance of a fort, they were mainly symbolic, and the palace was never really intended to withstand any attack. Nonetheless, the palace was still armed with four pieces of artillery on the roof. The interior of the palace is very ornate, with frescoes on some of the ceilings. A chapel, stables and servant quarters are located a short distance away from the palace.

Ghost story

Verdala Palace is supposedly haunted by the "Blue Lady", a niece of Grand Master de Rohan. She was supposed to marry a particular suitor who she did not like, she didn't want to marry this person so the only way to escape her fiancé is suicide, she jumped off the balcony in her bedroom. Her ghost is reportedly seen roaming the palace, wearing the same blue dress she wore when she died; her wedding dress.

Gallery

Malta - Siggiewi - Triq il-Buskett - Buskett Gardens + Verdala Palace 05 ies.jpg, View of Verdala Palace overlooking

Malta - Siggiewi - Triq il-Buskett - Verdala Palace gate 01 ies.jpg, Verdala Palace Gate Verdala ceal.jpg, Ceiling of the dining room Frescos Verdala.jpg, Frescoes in the palace Stamp Malta 1938 1p.jpg, Verdala Palace on a 1938 postage stamp

References

{{Authority control Palaces in Malta Official residences in Malta Defunct prisons in Malta Defunct hospitals in Malta Houses completed in 1586 Renaissance architecture in Malta Fortified houses in Malta Siġġiewi Reportedly haunted locations in Malta Limestone buildings in Malta Hunting lodges in Malta Knights Hospitaller