6 minute read
At Home in Valletta
Much of Valletta’s history sits, sight unseen, behind building partitions and accretions which have accumulated over several decades. A spate of restoration projects is bringing many those buildings back to life. Art historian and consultant museologist Therese Vella visits an historic palazzo now transformed into a boutique hotel with the feel of a private home.
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The stones of Domus Zamittelo are steeped in the history of hospitality – quite literally, as the building was home to several prominent Italian Hospitaller Knights of the Order of St John. Formerly the site of Casa Pensa, Domus Zamittello bears the name of another renowned resident who moved to the palazzo in the early nineteenth century. Sir Giuseppe Nicolo’ Zamitt, a highly respected and cultured man, acquired the prestigious property in 1805, and undertook its complete renovation and it soon became known as Palazzo Zamittello.
Zammit was then at the start of his legal career rising rapidly through the ranks of the new British administration of Malta. He was also one the first recipients of the Order of St Michael and St George and bears the letters K.C.M.G. after his name. At his death in 1823, Zammit had earned the honour of a magnificent monument in the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta, and he was one of the very few Maltese whose body was interred inside St John’s Co-Cathedral, 50 years after his death.
The palazzo is built on the most prestigious street of Valletta leading to the Palace of the Grand Master. The street was designated for Hospitaller auberges, to house novices of the Order as well as for private residences of high-ranking knights. The architecture of the palazzo reflects the lifestyle of late eighteenthcentury nobility. The piano nobile would have been decorated with the finest baroque and neo-classical furniture and furnishings, all intended to be appreciated by distinguished guests entering the palazzo.
Guests to the historic house would enter through the grand doorway which was embellished with customised bronze door knockers showing the escutcheons of the Zamitt and the Azopardi families, both families being descendants of Sir Giuseppe Nicolo’ Zamitt. The inner doorway is flanked by two large sculptures, both male figures known as atlantes seemingly holding up the walls above them – referring to the mythological figure of Atlas who was condemned to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity. The sculptures portray an old bearded man, using both arms to take the weight, on the right, and a beardless youth, casually resting on his arm on his hip. The atlantes symbolise the passage of time, appropriate symbols for a hall intended for entrances and exits.
The stairwell on the left sets off with two other sculptures – the profile of a lion’s head on the left, and a hound on the right – and rises with stone balusters which are sculpted to give the illusionistic appearance of upward movement. The stairwell centres around another classical sculpture of a standing nude carrying a cornucopia, its fruit symbolizing abundance and fertility. On reaching the level of the piano nobile, one walks through another grand doorway, framed by pillars and classical pediment and emblazoned with the initials ‘DZ’.
The Sala Nobile was recently restored, keeping to the original design of its wall decoration and conserved hardstone flooring. The mural paintwork was discovered in the course of the palazzo’s restoration, with the removal of the red damask and frieze decoration, which until recently covered its walls. The elaboratelypanelled ceiling too was restored and forms an appropriate setting for the antique Murano chandeliers which now embellish the Sala. The next hall, the Sala del Conte, also had its silk wall covering removed and its walls similarly restored. Restoration continued throughout the building, with former mural decorations once more enhancing architectural features such as arches and ceilings now seen in most of the rooms on the upper floors.
The historic reminders of the distinguished former residents of the palazzo – the heraldic door knockers as well as the emblazoned initials on doorways – have been renewed with a recent addition on the piano nobile. At the centre of the ceiling painting in the Sala del Conte, is a portrayal of the personal coat of arms of Count Alfred Manduca, the current owner and descendant of Sir Giuseppe Zammit. This is surrounded by four others, including the Zamitt and Azopardi crests as well as that of Grand Master Ramon Perellos (1697-1720). The crests can also be seen on the doors of the guests’ suites on the same piano nobile, reminding visitors of the personal attention which has been lavished on the building during throughout most of its history and particularly during its recent restoration and conversion into a boutique hotel.
The palazzo also includes other features which were inserted after Zamitt’s times, and which have since acquired artistic or historic significance. In the entrance hall, one is greeted by a sculpture of a gently smiling face, its head surrounded by garlands of flowers, and flanked by corbels decorated with oak leaves, in the manner of late nineteenth-century architectural features.
On the ground floor, in the long room now converted into a restaurant, one can see a cast iron safe, manufactured in the early twentieth century by the British firm, Thomas Perry & Sons, reputed to have provided the safes on RMS Titanic. Inside the street entrance to the restaurant, one can see a Murano glass chandelier in cobalt blue that once hung in a stately home in which the current owner’s great uncle lived, its colour complementing the antique willow pattern dinner service which now decorates the restaurant walls.
The view from the terrace at the top of the house is a reminder of the prestige of the site and its location. From left to right, one views a range of historic buildings, from the Auberge de Castille now serving as the Office of the Prime Minister, to the churches of St Catherine’s and Our Lady of Victories, St James Cavalier, the former Opera House, Porta Reale, Palazzo Ferreria to the rest of the palazzi lining Republic Street, the Franciscan Church, St John’s Co-Cathedral and the various auberges which once lined Strada Reale. On its own, the view is a veritable visual panorama of the history of Malta, and of the generations of men, women and children who once lived in and animated the Renaissance city of Valletta.
