Stop 06 of 15
Our Lady of Victory
The first building in Valletta
Narration · 3 min
Have it read to you while you look at the thing itself, hands in pockets.
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Guide to Our Lady of Victory
Our Lady of Victory is the oldest building in Valletta and the least showy church on the route. It was raised on the spot where the city's foundation stone was laid in March 1566, and finished within the year, while everything around it was still scaffolding and rubble.
The first building in the city
The Grand Master had a church put up on this ground immediately, and it was complete inside twelve months — the first finished building in a city that was otherwise a construction site. Every other building on this walk came afterwards.
Jean de Valette, who held the island through the Great Siege and then founded the city that carries his name, was buried here when he died in 1568. His body was later moved to the crypt of the conventual church further down Republic Street, but this was the first grave.
Which victory
The dedication is to Our Lady of Victory, and the victory is the Great Siege. The Ottoman army withdrew on 8 September 1565, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin.
Malta has marked the date ever since as Il-Vitorja, Victory Day. It is still a national holiday, and it is still celebrated with a regatta in the Grand Harbour.
Inside
Alessio Erardi painted the vault in the early eighteenth century, taking his subjects from the life of the Virgin. Decades of neglect left the building in poor condition, and a careful restoration through the 2010s brought the ceiling back from the brink.
It is small, it takes five minutes, and it is the one church in Valletta that rewards you for arriving with no expectations.
What to look at
- The bust of Pope Innocent XII on the facade, added in the 1690s
- The plainness of the lower walls compared with everything built later — this is 1566 Valletta
- Erardi’s vault paintings inside, and the marble memorial to de Valette’s first burial
Practical
- Opening
- Usually open mornings; hours vary. Free, donations welcome.
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered, as in every church in Malta.
Walk to stop 07
Carry on along the street, keeping the harbour behind your right shoulder, and rejoin the main pedestrian street — Republic Street. Turn right. Walk about four minutes, past the shops and cafés, until you see a long, austere palace facade on your left with a heavy stone doorway and small windows high up.
About 6 min · 450 m