Palazzo Falson

Palazzo Falson, formerly known as Palazzo Cumbo-Navarra, Casa dei Castelletti, and the Norman House, is a medieval townhouse in Mdina, Malta. It was built as a family residence by the Maltese nobility, and is named after the Falson family. It is presently open to the public as a house-museum with seventeen rooms of historic domestic belongings and a number of antique collections.

The building is believed to have been built around 1495, probably incorporating parts of a 13th-century building. This makes it the second oldest building in Mdina, after the ground floor of Palazzo Santa Sofia. During the rule of the Order of St. John, the building might have received Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, the first Grand Master in Malta. The building was further enlarged in the mid-16th century. Its architect is unknown, but the distinctive upper floor windows might be the work of Jacobo Dimeg.

Palazzo Falson was acquired by Olof Frederick Gollcher in the 20th century, and he restored and altered parts of the building. It is now owned by a foundation established by Gollcher, and since 2007 it has been open to the public as the Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, which is managed by the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, a Maltese heritage foundation. It displays permanent collections which originally belonged to Gollcher, and occasionally other temporary exhibits from private collections.

The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It has been a Grade 1 scheduled property since 1992, and is on the list of the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.

Text adapted from “Palazzo Falson” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palazzo Falson ranks #4,425 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #19 of the 29 mapped in Malta. Founded 2007 — one of 5 atlas entries founded in the 21st century. 27 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Malta compares in the castle statistics.

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