Having an almost lifelong fascination with the Knights Hospitaller, my recent holiday was in that respect a very grave disappointment. Expecting to visit an almost inexhaustible range of spectacular buildings constructed by them, I found that those open to the public could be counted on one hand.

Yes, the buildings are there, splendid and numerous, but most are either shut (all their fortifications) or occupied by politicians and civil servants, including the major buildings outside Valletta and all the Grand Masters’ palaces and the auberges.

A tiny fraction of the main palace is viewable and one of the auberges in Valletta, a museum, is unrecognisable as to its original use. The magnificent Holy Infirmary is scarred by a monstrosity of a modern conference centre. The cathedral is magnificent and unspoilt (picture).

One fort I found which appeared through the glass door to be well preserved and original (?) was the Order’s embassy, also unavailable to the public. The identical fort on the opposite side of Republic Street behind the Victory church has been adulterated. All these buildings are maintained by public taxes and, yet, the public is excluded from the vast majority.

I know that many governments appropriate such historic buildings. But, at least, in France and the UK, for example, they only occupy a small proportion of what is preserved. In Malta, it is the large majority.

The politicians and their cohorts should remove themselves to modern buildings – of which there is a surfeit – designed for today’s world. And restore the hospitallers’ heritage to the Maltese people and the millions of visitors on whom the island largely depends.

And the Order, remembering the true source of its vast wealth, should stop the ruination of its great heritage by modern destructive development and restore it to the public, including their embassy, for viewing.

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