Valletta has a new square, Jean De Valette, lying adjacent to the Church of St Catherine of Italy and opposite the revamped Opera House ruins.
The square, part of the Renzo Piano project to upgrade the entrance to the city, was yesterday inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
It pays homage to the 49th grandmaster, Jean De Valette, whose statue has been placed in the middle of the open space where Valletta’s police station once stood.
The 700 kilogramme, 2.5-metre-high monument, the work of sculptor Joseph Chetcuti, depicts the grandmaster in motion, as if striding, wearing armour underneath a tabard.
The base of the silicon bronze statue was designed by Mr Piano and is made of stone cut into the angles of the Maltese cross.
Speaking at the ceremony, historian Giovanni Bonello described the grandmaster as a violent yet great man, who had been jailed twice and moved on to win the Great Siege and build Valletta when everyone around him said it could not be done. This perseverance, he said, was extraordinary.
In his own speech, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said the Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi, possessed the same quality of perseverance as the grandmaster and were it not for this, the project would not have happened.
Dr Gonzi told the audience that from his office window at Castille he could see the dedicated workers on site and in his own personal way, even though they did not know this, greeted them every day and admired their hard work.
A short light show highlighting the Government’s work throughout the capital brought the ceremony to a close and dignitaries mingled around the statue of the man who saved Malta from the Turks.
Bonello finally settles spelling
Giovanni Bonello yesterday wanted to settle the matter of how to spell the grandmaster’s name once and for all.
It is Jean De Valette and not “De La Vallette” as he was commonly referred to in error, Dr Bonello pointed out at the beginning of his speech.
He challenged anyone to disprove this as the grandmaster always signed his name in this way and this was how documentation always referred to him.