Palazzo Falson
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Façade of Palazzo Falson
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| Former name | Palazzo Cumbo-Navarra Casa dei Castelletti The Norman House |
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| Location | Mdina, Malta |
| Coordinates | 35°53′13.2″N 14°24′11.2″E / 35.887000°N 14.403111°E |
| Type | Historic house museum |
| Owner | Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti |
| Website | palazzofalson.com |
Palazzo Falson, formerly known as Palazzo Cumbo-Navarra, Casa dei Castelletti, and the Norman House, is the second oldest building in Mdina, Malta, dating back to the 13th century. It is presently open to the public as Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum and houses the antiques collection of its last owner Olof Frederick Gollcher OBE (1889-1962). The museum is managed by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (Maltese Heritage Foundation) , a non-profit foundation set up in 1992 to preserve and study Maltese cultural heritage.
Palazzo Falson was built during Malta’s medieval period in the 13th century, over the remains of a defensive structure called La Rocca. Changes to the façade, including a shift in the orientation of the building as well as the addition of a double serrated string course separating the two storeys and the hood mould framing the main doorway, were also completed in the 15th century. These features are typical of the Siculo-Norman style prevalent at the time.
One of the first documented owners Michele Falson, who inherited the house in 1524, made further changes to the building including the addition of mullioned windows on the second floor. The decorative windows were probably designed by the local architect Jacobo Dimeg (before 1464- before 1527). The house saw further improvements upon the arrival in Malta in 1530 of the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem when it was host to Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam (r.1530-1534). The Grand Master stayed in the house from the 20th October to 5 November.
The Palazzo eventually passed to the Cumbo-Navarra family and was purchased by Olof Gollcher and his mother, Elisa Gollcher née Balbi (1857-1935), in 1927. Throughout the centuries a number of changes were made to the house, including a reduction in the size of the building by separating it into more than one tenement.
Gollcher himself also effected a number of changes to the house. In 1927, together with his mother, he bought a part of the original house and went on to acquire the second part in 1938 when he was able to reunite the two. The most significant changes he made can be seen in the courtyard where Gollcher, in a true revivalist manner, built a Siculo-Renaissance inspired external staircase, as well as a pseudo Siculo-Norman fountain and a Byzantine-Romanesque folly. He also added a pointed-arched doorway to complement the main portal of the façade.
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Wikipedia