Podcasts · The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History
The Jewel of Valletta: How Francesco Laparelli Built a Fortress City
· 6:01 · S4 E157
Episode The Jewel of Valletta: How Francesco Laparelli Built a Fortress City
In 1566, just months after the Great Siege, Grand Master Jean de Valette laid the first stone of a new city. But the military engineer who designed it was a Renaissance architect from Cortona, Italy: Francesco Laparelli. This episode follows how Laparelli transformed a barren peninsula into the most formidable fortified city in Europe. We explore the geometric star forts, the gridiron street plan, the underground cisterns, and the slave gangs who did the heavy labor. Laparelli died of plague in 1570, just before the city was completed; his Maltese assistant, Ġlormu Cassar, took over. We also touch on the forgotten workers—slaves, convicts, and hired laborers—who made Valletta possible. The city was named 'Valletta' in honor of de Valette, but its true maker was the Tuscan architect who never saw it finished.
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Transcript
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