page_title: Casa Leoni
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Casa Leoni / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Detail from a fresco inside the Grandmaster's Palace, Valletta, Malta, depicting Casa Leoni and the Old Parish Church of St. Venera in Santa Venera, Malta This media is about Maltese cultural property with inventory number 01134.
context_page_description: Casa Leoni or Casa Leone, also known as Palazzo Manoel or the Vilhena Palace, is a palace in Santa Venera, Malta, which was built as a summer residence for Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena in 1730. It was subsequently used for a number of purposes, including as an insurgent command base, an official residence, a museum depository and a school. It currently houses the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change.
context_section_description: Casa Leoni was built in 1730 as a summer residence for Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, and it was originally called Palazzo Manoel. The building is located close to the Wignacourt Aqueduct, in an area that was originally in the limits of Ħamrun but which later became the separate locality of Santa Venera. It was designed by the French architect Charles François de Mondion.
  During the French blockade of 1798–1800, Casa Leoni served as a command base for the Maltese insurgent National Congress Battalions. A grenadier company known as the Granatieri was set up specifically to guard this headquarters.
  Casa Leoni subsequently became a residence for the Governor of Malta, and later for the Lieutenant-Governor. In the 1820s the Whitemore family owned the building with its gardens and around that period have welcomed the Hastings family at the building during the local feast of the old parish of Santa Venera. It was occasionally the host of theatre productions during the stay of Harry Luke and his wife Joyce Fremlin between 1930 and 1938. 
  After World War II, it was used as a depository by the Museums Department. The building was converted into a museum in 1952, but the project was unsuccessful and it closed down soon afterwards. While serving as a museum, two gibbets from Villa Frere in Pietà were transferred to Casa Leoni. It later served as a government primary school until 1968.
  The building was restored between 1977 and 1978, and it was briefly converted into a guest house for prominent visitors to Malta. It subsequently housed various government departments and ministries, including the Ministry for Education and Culture. It currently houses the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change.
  The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It is now a Grade 1 national monument, and it is also listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.
caption: Casa Leoni from a fresco at the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta. The Old Parish Church is seen in the background.
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