Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/527

Rh stands. The nephew of de Monte had, however, at about this period, erected a large pile of buildings in front of the Piazza San Georgio, which appeared well adapted for the purpose, and this was purchased from him, and appropriated as a palace. It is most probable that, when the young de Monte undertook this building, he contemplated its eventual appropriation as a palace for his uncle, since it is hardly conceivable that he should have required so extensive and palatial a pile for his own use.

When the line of fortifications around the new city had been sufficiently advanced, the usual division of posts was made for each langue. The land front consisted of four bastions. That of St. Peter, on the left, was told off as the post of Italy; St. James’s bastion, containing a cavalier which dominated all the surrounding works, was the post of France; St. John’s bastion, with a similar cavalier, was that of Provence; and St. Michael’s bastion, on the right, that of Auvergne. To the right of this latter bastion, overlooking the Marsa Museetto, was St. Andrew’s bastion, which was allotted to the langue of Aragon. The line of ramparts from that point to St. Elmo was the post of Germany, whilst the corresponding line on the grand harbour side, from the St. Peter’s bastion to SL Elmo was the post of Castille; St. Elmo itself was garrisoned by detachments from all the langues, as was also St. Angelo. The old posts of the various leagues in the Bourg and Senglea were still retained by them, in addition to their new lines of defence. Each langue also constructed for itself an auberge, as they had done at Rhodes. The auberge of Provence stands in the Strada Reale, the main street of Valetta, and is now a naval and military club. The auberge of Auvergne, also in the Strada Reale, is a police office and court of justice. The auberge of France, in the Strada Mezzodi, is in the hands of the Commissariat department. The auberge of Germany was pulled down many years ago, and on its site t.he collegiate church of St. Paul was erected, through the munificence of Adelaide the late Queen Dowager, widow of William IV. The auberge of Aragon, which stood near that of Germany, was allotted as a palace to the bishop of Gibraltar, of whose see Malta is the head-quarters. The auberge of Italy