Houses in Kingsway and Old Bakery Street, V Alletta
HOUSES IN KINGSWAY AND OLD BAKERY STREET, VALLETTA. by VICTOR F. DENARO Kingsway, formerly Strada Reale, stretches throughout the length of Valletta from Kingsgate to Fort St. Elmo. It is the main street of the city, and during the rule of the Order of St. John was known as Strada San Giorgio; the French renamed it Rtle Nationale. On coming into the city through Kingsgate we find, on the left, the Buttigieg-Francia Palace built, under the direction of Architect Giuseppe Bona via~ in the middle of last century on the site of the Fel'reria or Fianeo (1) of the Order which had been occupied by the British military authorities and returned to the Civil Government in compensation for Admiralty lands valued at £30,000 (2). Opposite the Ferreria was the Casa de.'la Giorllata probably so called from the family motto, ".AlIa Gionwta", of the Lanfreducci family, the original owners of the palace. The building, which occupied the whole quarter where the Royal Opera House stood, and which included an orange garden (3), has been erroneously designated as the Auberge of England by several historians including Ciantar, which error is, perhaps, due to its having been occupied at some time by a Prior of England. In a plan of Valletta by Chev. Francesco Antalla dated 1600 (,t) the block was called the Casa del Connn. Lanfredueei wHich leaves little doubt as to the original owner of the house . .Comm. Fra Francesco Landfreducci, Ball of Pavia, sold the premises tc Comm. Fra Giulio Accarigi, Admiral of the Order and Prior of Venice (5).
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