Inquisitor's Palace

The Inquisitor's Palace in Birgu was built as a court in the 1530s and became the seat of the Roman Inquisition on Malta from 1574 until 1798, housing sixty-two inquisitors in succession. It is one of very few such buildings anywhere that survives largely intact and open to the public: the tribunal room where the accused were examined, the prison cells with graffiti scratched into the walls by those held in them, and the inquisitor's own apartments above.

Background

Built around the 1530s, the palace began as the Castellania courthouse and housed a tribunal founded in 1543, remaining a court until 1572. The Inquisition arrived in September 1574, and later inquisitors turned the building into a Roman palazzo with some Baroque influence. Fabio Chigi, later Pope Alexander VII, started the first major renovation in the 1630s. Francesco Sammut designed the new façade of 1660, the upper floor may have been added in 1707 by Giovanni Barbara, and Romano Carapecchia designed the main staircase in 1733. It opened as a museum in 1966 and has carried the name National Museum of Ethnography since 1992.

Source: Wikipedia, "Inquisitor's Palace"

What you'll find

• The tribunal room - the court where the accused were examined.
• The prison cells - cells with graffiti scratched by those held in them.
• The inquisitor's apartments - the private rooms above the working parts of the palace.
• The survival - one of the few inquisitorial palaces still standing and open.

When to go

Year round; it is indoors and suits hot or wet days. It closes on some public holidays. Mornings are quietest.

Good to know

The building is a working museum and some rooms are closed for conservation. Labelling can be dense. The subject matter is grim and not suitable for all visitors.

Nearby

Fort St Angelo is at the peninsula's point, and Birgu surrounds it.