Grandmaster's Palace

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The Grandmaster's Palace is a palace in Valletta, Malta, currently housing the House of Representatives of Malta.

[edit] History

The site had been previously occupied by Eustachio del Monte, a nephew of the La Valette. The Knights of Malta bought the house commissioned Gerolamo Cassar to design the palace.

The palace is built around two courtyards, one of which is predominated by a statue of Neptune. There are two entrances in the front and one entrance from Piazza Regina just west of the Bibliotecha. The entrance to the state rooms is in the Neptune Courtyard via a spiral staircase. The ceiling of this entrance was painted by Nicolo Nasini da Siena in 1724.

The Armoury, housing one of the finest collections of weapons of the period of the Knights of Malta in all of Europe, runs the width of the back of the palace. Spears, swords, shields, heavy armour and other weapons, including Dragut's sword are on display.