Valletta, Malta - Strada St. Lucia, Street - postcard c.1905-10

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Malta - Strada St Lucia - Valletta
• Publisher: none seen
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Valletta (/vəˈlɛtə/, Maltese pronunciation: [ˈvɐlɛ.tɐ]) is the capital city of Malta. Located in the south east of the island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population in 2014 was 6,444,[4] while the metropolitan area around it has a population of 393,938.[2] Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe.

Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Knights Hospitaller. The city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The city was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.[5]

The city's fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains and cavaliers, along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima – Italian for "Most Proud".

The Manderaggio (Maltese: Il-Mandraġġ) is a neighbourhood in Valletta, Malta. It is located behind the Manderaggio Curtain of the fortifications of Valletta, on the side of Marsamxett Harbour.[1]

Originally intended as a mandracchio for galleys, it became a slum area in the late 16th century. By the early 20th century, over 2,500 people lived in an area of 2.5 acres (10,000 m2), with the worst sanitary conditions on the Maltese islands. The slums were demolished in the 1950s, being replaced by housing estates and a square.

When the city of Valletta began to be constructed in 1566, the Order of St. John planned to build a mandracchio, a sheltered area to serve as a galley pen, in Marsamxett Harbour. The area began to be excavated, and the stones quarried were used to build houses in the city. However, the rocks proved to be unsuitable for construction. This pen would also mean that the galleys would be placed in Marsamxett Harbour which did not offer as much protection as the Grand Harbour. Thus, the project was abandoned.[2]

Between 1572 and 1600, houses began to be built within the abandoned quarry. The outer houses, located in four streets surrounding the area (St. Mark, St. Lucia, St. Patrick and Marsamxett Streets), kept with the architecture of Valletta, but the inner circle of houses was built with no prior planning, and became a slum area.[3]

The entrances to the slum area were located in St. Mark, St. Lucia and St. Patrick Streets. The entrance at St. Mark Street was known as Il-mina taċ-Ċintura, while that at St. Lucia Street was called It-tomba tal-Mandraġġ. The Manderaggio consisted of a single street called Triq il-Mandraġġ (Manderaggio Street), as well as a number of alleys, which were known by several names such as it-triq tal-kanal (canal street) and it-triq ta' taħt il-bastjun (street under the bastion).

At its main entrance, Manderaggio Street was about 7 m (23 ft) wide, like the streets in other parts of Valletta. However, along the way the street was only 2 m (6 ft 7 in) wide, with buildings being about 3 m (9.8 ft) away from each other. The streets in the Manderaggio had a length of around 574 m (1,883 ft), so the area had a road space of around 1,940 m2 (20,900 sq ft)

The heights of the buildings in the Manderaggio ranged from around two to three floors in St. Mark Street, four floors in St. Lucia Street, and four or five floors in St. Patrick and Marsamxett Streets.

In the early 20th century, the Manderaggio had a population of 2544.[4]