Casa Leoni or Casa Leone ( mt, Dar l-Iljuni, meaning "House of the Lions"), also known as Palazzo Manoel or the Vilhena Palace ( mt, Il-Palazz Vilhena), 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 ...

Santa Venera Santa Venera is a town in the Central Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and it also borders Qormi and Msida. History The Old Church of Santa Venera was built in 147 ...

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 ...

, which was built as a summer residence for Grand Master

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 M ...

in 1730. It was subsequently used for a number of purposes, including as an insurgent command base, an official residence, a museum depository and a school. It currently houses the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects (MTIP).

History

Grandmaster's Palace interior fresco, Valletta 004

Casa Leoni was built in 1730 as a summer residence for Grand Master

, and it was originally called ''Palazzo Manoel''. The building is located close to the

Wignacourt Aqueduct The Wignacourt Aqueduct ( mt, L-Akwedott ta' Wignacourt) is a 17th-century aqueduct in Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat to the newly built capital city Valletta. The aqueduct ...

, in an area that was originally in the limits of

Ħamrun Hamrun (; ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who carry a knife') or as '' ...

but which later became the separate locality of

. It was designed by the French architect

Charles François de Mondion Charles François de Mondion (6 October 1681 – 25 December 1733) was a French architect and military engineer who was active in Hospitaller Malta in the early 18th century. He was also a member of the Order of Saint John. Career Mondion was b ...

. During the French blockade of 1798–1800, Casa Leoni served as a command base for the Maltese insurgent

National Congress Battalions The National Congress Battalions ( it, Battaglioni del Congresso Nazionale, mt, Battaljuni tal-Kungress Nazzjonali), also known as the , was an irregular military set up in Malta just after the Maltese rebellion against French rule in September ...

. A

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from ...

company known as the ''Granatieri'' was set up specifically to guard this headquarters. Casa Leoni subsequently became a residence for the

Governor of Malta A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and later for the Lieutenant-Governor. In the 1820s the Whitemore family owned the building with its gardens and around that period have welcomed the Hastings family at the building during the local feast of the old parish of Santa Venera. It was occasionally the host of theatre productions during the stay of

Harry Luke Sir Harry Charles Luke (born Harry Charles Lukach; 4 December 1884 – 11 May 1969) was an official in the British Colonial Office. He served in Barbados, Cyprus, Transcaucasia, Sierra Leone, Mandatory Palestine, Palestine, Malta, the Britis ...

and his wife Joyce Fremlin between 1930 and 1938. Palazzo Manoel

After

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 ...

, it was used as a depository by the Museums Department. The building was converted into a museum in 1952, but the project was unsuccessful and it closed down soon afterwards. While serving as a museum, two

gibbet A gibbet is any instrument of public execution (including guillotine, executioner's block, impalement stake, hanging gallows, or related scaffold). Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of crimi ...

s from

Villa Frere A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture Sculpture is the branc ...

were transferred to Casa Leoni. It later served as a government primary school until 1968. The building was restored between 1977 and 1978, and it was briefly converted into a guest house for prominent visitors to Malta. It subsequently housed various government departments and ministries, including the Ministry for Education and Culture and the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change. It currently houses the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It is now a Grade 1 national monument, 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, mon ...

Architecture

Palace and front garden

Malta - Santa Venera - Triq il-Kbira San Guzepp - Casa Leoni 05 ies

Casa Leoni is an example of

Maltese Baroque architecture Maltese Baroque architecture is the form of Baroque architecture that developed in Malta during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the islands were under the rule of the Order of St. John. The Baroque style was introduced in Malta in the early 17t ...

, with a simple but elegant design. Its façade contains an arched doorway at the centre of the ground floor, with a balcony above it. The door and balcony are flanked by several wooden louvered windows surrounded by mouldings. Casa Leoni has a small front garden, and its entrance consists of an ornamental

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...

ed gateway decorated with the coat of arms of Grand Master Vilhena. Two rooms are located on either side of the gate, and carved stone lions holding an escutcheon with Vilhena's coat of arms are found on the roof of each room. The name ''Casa Leoni'' is derived from these carved lions.

Back garden

The palace also contains a large back garden, which is similar to that at

San Anton Palace San Anton Palace ( mt, Il-Palazz Sant'Anton) is a palace in Attard, Malta that currently serves as the official residence of the President of Malta. It was originally built in the early 17th century as a country villa for Antoine de Paule, a knig ...

but on a smaller scale. It is the second largest Hospitaller-era garden in Malta after San Anton. A water lifting apparatus ( mt, sienja) was installed in the gardens in the 19th century for irrigation purposes. Since 1977, most of the garden has been open to the public as Romeo Romano Gardens ( mt, Ġnien Romeo Romano).

Stables and other gardens

Around the same time as Casa Leoni was constructed, the Manoel Foundation (a foundation responsible for the upkeep of

Fort Manoel Fort Manoel ( mt, Forti Manoel or ''Fortizza Manoel'') is a star fort on Manoel Island in Gżira, Malta. It was built in the 18th century by the Order of Saint John, during the reign of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, after whom ...

) also purchased plots of land in the areas of ''il-Ħamrija'' and ''Santa Veneranda'', close to the

Old Church of Santa Venera The Old Church of Santa Venera ( mt, Knisja l-Qadima ta' Santa Venera) is a Roman Catholic church in Santa Venera, Malta, dedicated to saint of the same name. It was built between 1658 and 1688 on a site of a 15th-century church. It was the t ...

, and converted them into gardens. A stable building was also constructed near the rear of Romeo Romano Gardens, and it has the following inscription above its entrance: Today, the gardens no longer exist but the stable building still stands.

Notes

References

{{commons category-inline, Casa Leoni (Santa Venera) Palaces in Malta Baroque palaces in Malta Official residences in Malta Defunct schools in Malta Theatres in Malta Government buildings in Malta Buildings and structures completed in 1730 Santa Venera Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands