Day 317/17. Presidential Palace State Rooms

The Presidential Palace was one of the first buildings in the new city of Valletta founded by Grand Master Jean de Valette in 1566 a few months after the successful outcome of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. The Palace was enlarged and developed by successive Grand Masters to serve as their official residence. Later, during the British period, it served as the Governor’s Palace and was the seat of Malta’s first constitutional parliament in 1921. The palace today is the seat of the Office of the President of Malta.
The restored opulence of the building, over 450 years old, is incredible, with the Grand Masters of Malta trying to outdo the rich and powerful from England, France, Spain, Austria, Prussia etc.