Work has been completed on the restoration of the ornate facade of Palazzo Castellania in Valletta, which houses the offices of the Ministry of Health.

The palace, in Merchants' Street, was built by the Knights of St John between 1757 and 1760 and served as the law courts and prison.  

The building, in the Baroque style, was designed by architects Francesco Zerafa and Giuseppe Bonici.

The law courts were moved elsewhere in the mid-19th century and the building was abandoned and later used as an exhibition centre, a tenant house and a school.

The health authorities moved in in 1895.

The building also houses the laboratory of Sir Themistocles Zammit, who in 1905 found that contaminated goat's milk transmitted undulant fever (Brucellosis) to humans.

Government workers earlier this week also completed the restoration of the facade of St John's Co-Cathedral. In both projects they were under the direction of architect Jean Frendo.