Spinola Palace (St. Julian's)
| Spinola Palace | |
|---|---|
| Palazz ta' Spinola | |
View of the Spinola Palace
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| Former names | Forrest Hospital |
| Alternative names | Palazzo Spinola Spinola House Villa Spinola |
| General information | |
| Status | Intact |
| Type | Palace |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Location | St. Julian's, Malta |
| Coordinates | 35°55′14.5″N 14°29′27.3″E / 35.920694°N 14.490917°E |
| Construction started | 1688 |
| Renovated | 1733 |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Limestone |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Romano Fortunato Carapecchia (1668-1738) |
Spinola Palace (Maltese: Palazz ta' Spinola; Italian: Palazzo Spinola), also known as Spinola House and Villa Spinola, is a palace in St. Julian's, Malta. It was built in the 17th century by Fra Paolo Rafel Spinola, a knight of the Order of St. John, and was enlarged in the 18th century. The later construction was designed by Romano Carapecchia, which is considered a masterpiece, with its back having an elegant clock that is a unique feature to secular Baroque architecture in Mata.
The palace was adaptively converted to a military hospital, serving between 1860 and 1922, and was known as the Forrest Hospital. It later served for a number of purposes, including a post-World War II shelter for the homeless, a short-lived Museum of Modern Art and the Ministry for Tourism. From late 2007 till present the building actively hosts the Headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM).
At the time of its construction a number of ancillary buildings were also built. These consisting of a church, two boathouses, a belvedere and a building serving as stables. They still survive today belonging to different private owners, with the palace belonging to the Maltese government. Originally the building had large extensive gardens, including baroque gardens and wineyards, however these were minimized to an enclosed back garden and a small front public garden.
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