Casa Rocca Piccola

Valletta, Malta

Casa Rocca Piccola is a 16th-century palace in Valletta and home of the noble de Piro family. The history of the building goes back over 400 years to an era in which the Knights of St John, having successfully fought off the invading Turks in 1565, decided to build a prestigious city to rival other European capitals such as Paris and Venice. Palaces were designed for prestige and aesthetic beauty in most of Valletta"s streets, and bastion walls fortified the new sixteenth-century city. Casa Rocca Piccola was one of two houses built in Valletta by Admiral Don Pietro la Rocca. It is referenced in maps of the time as 'la casa con giardino' meaning, the house with the garden, as normally houses in Valletta were not allowed gardens. Changes were made in the late 18th century to divide the house into two smaller houses. Further changes were made in 1918 and before the second world war an air raid shelters was added. The Casa Rocca Piccola Family Shelter is the second air-raid shelter to be dug in Malta. In 2000 a major restoration project saw the two houses that make up Casa Rocca Piccola reunited.

Casa Rocca Piccola was designed with long enfilades of interconnecting rooms on the first floor, while leaving the ground floor rooms for kitchens and stables. The house has over fifty rooms, including two libraries, two dining rooms, many drawing rooms, and a chapel.

The house is furnished with collections of furniture, silver and paintings from Malta and Europe. Casa Rocca Piccola houses Malta"s largest private collection of antique costumes.

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Address

Republic Street 224, Valletta, Malta
See all sites in Valletta

Details

Founded: 16th century
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Malta

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.casaroccapiccola.com

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Grandmaster's Palace (0,2 km)
St. John's Co-Cathedral (0,3 km)
Valletta Old Town (0,2 km)
Church of Our Lady of Liesse (0,6 km)
Saluting Battery (0,6 km)
Our Lady of Victories Church (0,6 km)
Manoel Theatre (0,3 km)
St. Dominic Basilica (0,1 km)
Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (0,3 km)


Palazzo Falson (10,2 km)
St. Paul's Cathedral (10,1 km)
Fortifications of Mdina (10,3 km)
Cittadella (29,7 km)
Ggantija (27,6 km)
Hagar Qim (10,4 km)
Rotunda of Mosta (8,1 km)
St. Paul's Church and Grotto (10,6 km)
St. Paul’s Catacombs (10,8 km)

User Reviews

Penny Ransley (2 months ago)
Fascinating in all details. What a splendid history malta's noble families have. An excellent tour in perfect (beautiful) English... a joy to listen to.
Carina Dimech (4 months ago)
A Palazzo I never tire of. What a jewel the history, the artefacts, the beautiful immaculately kept property and gardens. Still.the highlight of a visit to Valletta!
daniel valero (5 months ago)
An exquisite collection of Art going from baroque to surrealism! A must see of Valletta! Our guide was friendly, well informed and very nice! He for sure made the whole experience of being inside a 16th century palace even more impressive! At the end of the tour you get to fool around a Bunker underneath the palace. The entrance fee is a joke, and they have student discounts. Highly recommended!
Vicky Z (11 months ago)
Didn't expect to like it so much!! Very impressive house that helps you transfer in different times...you are learning a lot of interesting things about the rich people of Malta and we also took amazing photos from the inside! It was really interesting!! Staff was very helpful and explained everything very well!! Make sure you go it really worth it!!! And you will also meet kiku the parrot at the entrance!!!
Sinisa Medic (2 years ago)
Really nice tour. We had luck to be toured by the owner, old chap, so everything was more personal. He used words like "my grandfather" which just added to a more personal feeling. If it was not a tour with the owner, I guess it would not be so interesting. Tour was in perfect English. I would definitely recommend it if you are lucky to have such a great host as we did.
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