page_title: Auberge de Provence
section_title: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Alterations
hierarchical_section_title: Auberge de Provence / The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Alterations
caption_attribution_description: English: Early nineteenth century version of lithograph print representing the Auberge de Provence
context_page_description: Auberge de Provence is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in the sixteenth century to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Provence. It now houses the National Museum of Archaeology.
context_section_description: By the 1630s, the Langue of Provence had decided to reconstruct the auberge and works were on course to demolish parts of the building. The old façade was to make way for a new one which included spaces for shopfronts, as was the trend in the Baroque Period. The creation of new commercial spaces coincided with a period in which the Order was striving to commercialise public spaces and create revenue streams.
  During this time, the garden of the auberge was reduced in size with the sale to third parties of the two plots on Strait Street. The architect behind the project and the design of the new façade was Captain Antonio Garsin. The design of the new façade was a clear proponent of the French classical style. The creation of street-level shop fronts also changed the dynamics of the use of the building. The common areas and halls used by the Knights where now relocated to the first and second floor of the building. It was also during this period that the Gran Salon took shape.
  By 1788, in the context of the financial turmoil caused by the French Revolution, the Langue had to sell the surviving stretch of garden accessible from Strait Street to generate some revenue. The architect chosen to undertake this project was Stefano Ittar. With the arrival of the French in 1798, the building’s function as an Auberge came to an end. The building was converted by the occupying French into apartments for the officers of the “reggimento dei cacciatori” and their families.
caption: Early nineteenth century version of lithograph print representing the Auberge de Provence
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