A call for offers is being issued by the government for Dar Mattia Preti, the former Manoel Guest House in Valletta, which is currently abandoned but which could have economic potential because of its cultural and historic value.

Addressing a news conference, Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon said the offer, to be issued next week, was for a 65-year temporary emphyteusis and would be given to whoever came up with the best use proposal.

The state the property was in, he said, was not beneficial to the country’s historical heritage of the tourism potential the area it was in could have.

The property is in Triq Marsamxett.

Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said Mattia Preti, known as "Il Cavaliere Calabrese"  was born in Calabria in 1613 and came to Malta in 1659 where he was commissioned to carry out a number of works.

Considered the artist of the baroque movement, he died in 1699 and was buried at St John’s Co-Cathedral.

 

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