Wikipedia
Castellania may refer to:
- Castellania, Piedmont, a commune in Alessandria, Italy
- Castellania (Valletta), the former law courts in Valletta, Malta
- Terra Alta (comarca) or Castellania, a sparsely populated inland comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain
- Castellania, the former name of the Inquisitor's Palace in Birgu, Malta
The Castellania (; ), officially known as Castellania Palace (; ), is a former courthouse and prison in Valletta, Malta. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1757 and 1760, on the site of an earlier courthouse which had been built in 1572.
The building was built in the Baroque style to designs of the architects Francesco Zerafa and Giuseppe Bonici. It is one of the most prominent buildings in Merchants Street, having an ornate façade with an elaborate marble centrepiece. Features of the interior include a former court hall, a chapel, prison cells, a statue of Lady Justice at the main staircase and an ornate fountain in the courtyard.
From the late 18th to the early 19th century, the building was also known by a number of names, including the Palazzo del Tribunale, the Palais de Justice and the Gran Corte della Valletta. By the mid-19th century the building was deemed too small, and the courts were gradually moved to Auberge d'Auvergne between 1840 and 1853. The Castellania was then abandoned, before being briefly converted into an exhibition centre, a tenant house and a school.
In 1895, the building was converted into the head office of the Public Health Department. The department was eventually succeeded by Malta's health ministry (currently known as the Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Community Care), which is still housed in the Castellania. The building's ground floor contains a number of shops, while Sir Themistocles Zammit's laboratory on the second floor is open to the public by appointment as The Brucellosis Museum.