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28.03.

1566: Valletta Founded as the Main Headquarters of the Knights of Malta

1566: Valletta Founded as the Main Headquarters of the Knights of Malta
Photo Credit To http://www.rjgingelllittlejohn.com/Images/Auction-March13/Large/Map02.jpg

Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, founded a city named after him after achieving a victory over the Ottoman Turks.



The city of Valletta was founded on Malta on this day in 1566. It is today the capital of the Republic of Malta and the largest city on the island. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its historical and cultural significance. It was named after Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, who had defeated an Ottoman invasion of the island in 1565. Malta had, namely, become the main headquarters of the Knights of St. John (Knights Hospitaller) after they had evacuated the island of Rhodes due to Ottoman pressure. It is precisely due to their seat on Malta that they became known as the Knights of Malta.

Jean de Valette was from southern France by origin and became the 49th Grand Master of the Knights of St. John. He set the foundations of the city on the site of what is today the Church of Our Lady of Victories in Valletta (his body was later interned there, but was then moved to St. John’s Co-Cathedral several hundred meters away.

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