The Inquisitor's Palace, sited in the heart of the historical
city of Vittoriosa, is one of the very few surviving palaces
of its kind which in the early modern period could be
found all over Europe and South America. Many simply
succumbed to the ravages of time or else were victims
of the reactionary power unleashed by the French
Revolution. Fortunately, the Maltese Inquisitor's Palace,
throughout its five centuries of history, always hosted
high-ranking officials representing the main powers on
the island, who ensured its survival. The Palace also
managed to survive through the ordeal of the Second
World War and the threat of modern development, and
although much has been changed in its structure by its
successive occupants, it is today an architectural gem,
representative of the chequered history of the Maltese
islands.
Yet, until now, our knowledge of the Palace arid its
history remained very incomplete, and all one can find
is small pieces of information scattered here and there
in various sources. The history of the Palace received a
boost last year with the publication of three previously
unknown plans of the building discovered in Rome.1
Yet much still remains to be done in foreign as well as
(as in this case) in local archives, in order to fully
appreciate the history and vicissitudes of the Inquisitor's
Palace, especially when placed in a wider Maltese and
European context.peer-reviewe
