page_title: Castellania (Valletta)
section_title: Interior
hierarchical_section_title: Castellania (Valletta) / Architecture / Interior
caption_attribution_description: English: Main hall of the Castellania in Valletta, Malta
context_page_description: The Castellania, also known as the Castellania Palace, is a former courthouse and prison in Valletta, Malta. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1757 and 1760, on the site of an earlier courthouse which had been built in 1572.
  The building was built in the Baroque style to design of the architect Francesco Zerafa, and completed by Giuseppe Bonici. It is a prominent building in Merchants Street, having an ornate façade with an elaborate marble centrepiece. Features of the interior include former court halls, a chapel, prison cells, a statue of Lady Justice at the main staircase and an ornate fountain in the courtyard.
  From the late 18th to the early 19th century, the building was also known by a number of names, including the Palazzo del Tribunale, the Palais de Justice and the Gran Corte della Valletta. By the mid-19th century the building was deemed too small, and the courts were gradually moved to Auberge d'Auvergne between 1840 and 1853. The Castellania was then abandoned, before being briefly converted into an exhibition centre, a tenant house and a school.
  In 1895, the building was converted into the head office of the Public Health Department.
context_section_description: The interior of the Castellania contains offices, court halls, a chapel and prison cells. A large allegorical statue representing Lady Justice or Astraea wearing a blindfold and holding weighing scales stands at the staircase which lead to the former courtrooms. The statue stands on a pedestal, and its sculptor is unknown. The staircase is grandiose on its own.
  The most decorated room in the building is the Sala Nobile (Noble Hall) on the first floor, which was originally a courthall, and which is now used as a meeting room. Here the judge and the nominated College of Advocates sat on a bench, which itself was a platform, wearing typical silk gown clothing of the period. The advocates on the bench were nominated and removed at the discretion of the Grand Master. When Malta was a British colony a similar short lived system was adopted, on 14 August 1832, known as the King's Counsel. The bench consisted of the Advocates of the King, and survived seven years. This room has coats-of-arms of the Castellani depicted on the upper side of the walls. There are 105 coats-of-arms, belonging to the Castellani from 1609 to the last in 1798, after which the position was abolished. In 1970 a copy of a painting by Mattia Preti, portraying two Saints of Health Cosmas and Damian, was transferred from St Luke's Hospital chapel to the hall at the Castellania.
  An inscription, found on a cartouche, above the main door of the hall reads:
  The chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows (also called the Madonna di Pietà or Mater Dolorosa). After being deconsecrated in the late 19th century, the room was used for other purposes, and only the limestone frame, where used to be the titular painting which was retrieved during restoration works in 1991, still remains from the chapel's original interior. An ornate fountain is located at the building's main courtyard, above which is a niche with a statue and above it an elaborate sculpture of the coat-of-arms of Pinto. Similar to the fountain of the first Castellania on site, it was supplied by water from the aqueduct.
  A number of prison cells are found in the Castellania. The cells close to the court rooms hosted new cases and also those awaiting execution. Several other cells are located at the rear of the building, and they are surrounded by a courtyard. These cells generally housed inmates who had to serve a short sentence of less than eight days, usually due to unpaid rent or accumulated debts. Other convicts were those who refused to bake bread in Valletta which were jailed for a roughly a week and those found guilty of stealing to eat despite their social situation which were imprisoned up to three months. Women in Malta were commonly arrested for the latter and other offenses; in a 1776 criminal court case against Margerita Crocco who supposedly stole a hen and which she claimed to have found it outside her home was not found credible in her versions of events due to her suffering hunger and was sentenced to three months in the prison of the same courthouse. In some cases, individuals were imprisoned for not observing religious norms, such as eating meat on prohibited days. Prisoners with longer sentences were usually sent to other prisons, usually the Gran Prigione, and if in physical capability were subject to be sent to the galleys. Medical physicians were requested to visit the inmates in the prison when needed for multiple reasons related to their health and examinations. There were attempts to re-criminalize gambling during the late magistracy of Pinto as such activity led to undesirable financial consequences to participants but the widespread practice was instead strictly regulated, on fears that if banned it may be of benefit to the underground community.
  The minor inmates at the Castellania were the ones who took care of the general maintenance, cleaning and repair works of the building, while guards were responsible for the allocation of tasks and observing their performance. Some historical graffiti made by prisoners can be found at the courtyard of the prison. Significant graffiti a
caption: The former criminal court, originally known as the Aula Criminale della Gran Corte della Castellania.[404]
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