Grandmaster’s Palace
Distance to the Port
30 min.
The Palace stands in the very heart of Valletta - the World Heritage City founded by the Sovereign Hospitaller Military Order of St. John after the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. Besides being the Office of The President, The Palace also serves as the House of Representatives and boasts of, an armoury which symbolises the past glories of the Order.
The first structure on this site was built during the reign of Grandmaster Jean de La Cassiere (1572-1581) in order to serve as the Grandmaster’s Palace. Subsequent Grandmasters enlarged and embellished the original structure until it took its present shape during the mid-18th century. Following the French occupation between 1798 and 1800 The Palace was taken over by the British administration, thereby serving as the Palace of the Governor. It also saw Malta’s constitutional development as it was the seat of Malta’s first Constitutional Parliament in 1921 and, following Independence in 1964, the seat of Parliament and also of the Head of State.
The Palace State Rooms and Armoury are open to the public. Howvever, the State Rooms may be closed to visitors at short notice due to the exigencies of the Office of the President or the House of Representatives.
