To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the accession of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, MIDI plc recently hosted two lectures on the architectural legacy of this popular and benevolent grandmaster at the chapel dedicated to St Anthony of Padua at Fort Manoel.

The first lecture was conducted by Conrad Thake, an architectural urban planner and architectural historian. His presentation was followed by that of Stephen Spiteri, author of several books and studies on the military history and fortifications of Malta.

In his lecture, Thake gave an overview of the architectural legacy of Grand Master Anton Manuel de Vilhena in the Maltese islands. 

De Vilhena bust

During the magistracy of Grand Master De Vilhena, 1722-1736, several major architectural and urban projects were undertaken. These included the urban renewal of Mdina, which included the total remodelling of the entrance area to the walled citadel, the foundation of Floriana as a residential town, Casa Leoni in Santa Venera and the Manoel Theatre in Valletta.  

His 14-year rule witnessed modernisation

Thake also referred to various welfare state projects founded by De Vilhena, such as the Conservatorio and Ospizio in Floriana. He also mentioned the evolution of the baroque architectural style in Malta.   

In his presentation, Spiteri spoke about the vast array of fortification projects undertaken during De Vilhena’s magistracy.

The Grand Master’s 14-year rule effectively witnessed modernisation and, in various instances, the completion of many of the ambitious defensive schemes that had been set in motion in course of the previous centuries to defend Valletta and the islands’ harbours, settlements and shores – a legacy succinctly captured in the first two lines of the Latin inscription crowning the entrance into Fort Manoel – Ad Val. Urb. Tutelam, Et Majorem ReiP. Securitatem (for the protection of the City of Valletta and the greater security of the state). 

Spiteri showed how the fortified landscape, as it is familiar to us today (with the exception of Fort Tigné, some alterations to Fort Ricasoli, Fort Chambrai in Gozo and the coastal entrenchments erected in the 1760/1970s) came largely together in the course of De Vilhena’s magistracy.

The many escutcheons which once bore De Vilhena’s coat-of-arms and adorned the ramparts and gates of the fortified city of Vittoriosa, the Santa Margherita enceinte, Fort Salvatore (Cottonera lines), Floriana (the North entrenchment), Fort Manoel, Città Notabile (Mdina), the Naxxar and Ta’ Falca entrenchments and Ras il-Qala Battery (Gozo) all stand monument to the scale and magnitude of the fortification works undertaken during the grandmaster’s reign and his unstinting commitment to the defence of the Hospitaller realm.

After the event, the public also had the opportunity to view the restoration works carried out by MIDI at Fort Manoel, including the crypt, where one of the most important French military architects of the time, Charles François De Mondion, who among other projects was responsible for the design and development of Fort Manoel, is said to be buried.