Ten years since the completion of the restoration works which returned Palazzo de Piro, in Mdina to its original splendour, the imposing building is looking for a new tenant.
The Mdina Metropolitan Chapter, owners of the 17th-century palace in the shadow of Mdina’s cathedral, would like to give this landmark a new lease of life through a new long-term concession.
“The Cathedral Chapter is inviting entrepreneurs seeking an investment opportunity to submit their ideas and proposals for a long-term concession of one of the major and rarest landmarks inside Mdina,” Mgr Salvinu Micallef, from the Metropolitan Chapter, says.
Mgr Micallef explains that Palazzo de Piro has a “long history of succession, ownership and character”.
“The site of the present building was originally occupied by three separate houses that were the residence of the Falca family, with its earliest known member being a certain Marciano, who, by 1429, served as a jury,” he notes.
“If we recall the famous historical account of when the Maltese inhabitants had to buy back the Maltese islands from Gonsalvo Monroy, we learn that Marciano himself had intervened to settle part of this debt,” Mgr Micallef adds.
The building’s architectural features indicate that this edifice could have been built under the supervision of Girolamo Cassar or his workshop.
During the 19th century, the palazzo fell into the possession of Cavaliere Giovanni Parisio Muscati. Later on, Alexander De Piro D’Amico Inguanez and his new wife, Orsola took up residence there soon after their marriage in 1868. They raised a family of seven boys and two girls, one of whom was the renowned Mgr Giuseppe De Piro, founder of the Missionary Society of St Paul.
“The site of the present building was originally occupied by three separate houses”
After World War II, Palazzo De Piro was sold by Orsola’s heirs to the Dorothean nuns who converted the property into a girls’ school. The Metropolitan Chapter acquired the palazzo in 2005 and invested substantially in restoring and renovating this historical gem to its former glory.
The building last operated as a venue for private functions, conferences and banquets. It also housed a cafeteria and was one of Malta’s premier hubs for artists and cultural events.
The façade of the palazzo, which stands next to Mdina’s cathedral.