# The Jewel of Valletta: How Francesco Laparelli Built a Fortress City

An episode of [The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895465859), 15 Jul 2026, 6:01.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-malta/episode-0157.mp3

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. #FrancescoLaparelli #Valletta #FortressCity #OrderOfStJohn #JeanDeValette #ĠlormuCassar #RenaissanceArchitecture #StarFort #HistoricalEngineering #SlaveHistory #MaltaHistory #GreatSiege1565 #Cortona #Fortifications #Polysporin #History #FexingoHistory #Mediterranean Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Luna: We've talked about the Great Siege of 1565 more than once, but I've always wondered — what happened right after? The Knights won, but their old base in Birgu was wrecked.
Lucas: Exactly. Birgu and Senglea were basically rubble. So Grand Master Jean de Valette made a bold decision: instead of rebuilding, he'd start fresh on a barren peninsula called the Xiberras. He named the new city Valletta, after himself — but the real genius behind it was a man named Francesco Laparelli.
Luna: I don't think I've heard of him before.
Lucas: He was a military engineer from Cortona, in Tuscany. The Pope actually recommended him to the Order. Laparelli had worked on fortifications all over Italy — he knew the latest Renaissance ideas about star forts and angled bastions. He arrived in Malta in 1566 and drew up the plans for the entire city from scratch.
Lucas: And by the way, before we dive deeper — if you've been following these conversations about Malta, you know we keep this show ad-free because we believe history should be shared without commercial breaks. If that matters to you, supporting us is easy: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep this going.
Luna: Yeah, it's nice to have a show that doesn't interrupt the story. So Laparelli — what made his design so revolutionary?
Lucas: It wasn't just one thing. First, the location itself: the Xiberras peninsula is a natural fortress, with Grand Harbour on one side and Marsamxett Harbour on the other. Laparelli ringed it with massive bastions and a deep ditch cut into the rock. The walls were designed to deflect cannon fire — no more medieval straight walls that could be pounded down. And the city layout was a grid, which was unusual for the time. Straight streets, piazzas, a planned sewage system, and enormous underground cisterns to store rainwater.
Luna: Wait, a sewage system in the 1560s? That's ahead of its time.
Lucas: Absolutely. Laparelli knew that a besieged city needed to stay clean to avoid disease. He designed a network of drains and sewers that emptied into the harbour. The cisterns were crucial too — each house had one, and there were public ones under the main squares. The whole city was built to withstand a long siege, not just look impressive.
Lucas: But building it was a colossal undertaking. The workforce included thousands of slaves — captured during corsair raids — plus convicts, hired labourers, and even Knights who supervised the work. The rock was cut by hand, and the stones were hauled into place. It took five years just to finish the main fortifications.
Luna: Slaves built Valletta? That's a side of the story we don't usually hear.
Lucas: Right. The Order's economy relied heavily on slave labour, and the construction of Valletta was one of the biggest projects. The slaves were mostly Muslims captured from Barbary ships, but also some Christians from enemy states. They worked in chains, and many died from exhaustion or accidents. Laparelli himself died of plague in 1570 — he never saw the city completed.
Luna: So who finished the job?
Lucas: A Maltese architect named Ġlormu Cassar. He had been Laparelli's assistant and took over after his death. Cassar was born in Malta, probably in Birgu, and had trained in Italy. He oversaw the construction of the main buildings: the Grand Master's Palace, the Auberge de Castille, the Sacre Infermeria — the hospital that became famous across Europe. Cassar's style was more austere than Laparelli's, but he got the job done.
Luna: Cassar doesn't get the same recognition as Laparelli, does he?
Lucas: Not really. Laparelli is remembered as the visionary, Cassar as the executor. But without Cassar, Valletta might have stalled. He worked for decades, adapting the plans as needed. And he also designed the original St. John's Co-Cathedral — the one that was later lavishly decorated by Mattia Preti. So his fingerprints are all over the city.
Lucas: The city was officially inaugurated in 1571, even though some parts were still unfinished. The Knights moved their administration from Birgu to Valletta, and it became the new heart of the Order. Over time, it grew into one of the most heavily fortified cities in the world — a symbol of Christian resistance against Ottoman expansion.
Luna: And it's still standing today, basically unchanged in layout.
Lucas: Remarkably, yes. Valletta survived World War II bombings, but the street plan and many of the original buildings are intact. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1980, calling it 'one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world'. All thanks to a Tuscan engineer and his Maltese successor who turned a barren rock into a fortress.
Luna: I love stories like this — where the person behind the monument is almost forgotten.
Lucas: Exactly. And there's a little footnote: Laparelli's original drawings survive in the archives of Cortona. They show meticulous details of the bastions, gates, and even the water system. It's incredible to think that a single man, in a few months of sketching, shaped a city that would last for centuries.
Luna: Did he ever get a monument in Valletta?
Lucas: There's a street named after him — Triq Francesco Laparelli — not far from the Grand Master's Palace. But no grand statue. Cassar has a street too. The Knights themselves get the main glory. Still, for those who know, Laparelli is the true architect of the fortress island.

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