San Anton Palace

San Anton Palace (Maltese: Il-Palazz Sant'Anton) is a palace in Attard, Malta, that currently serves as the official residence of the president of Malta. It was originally built in the early 17th century as a country villa for Antoine de Paule, a knight of the Order of St. John. It was expanded into a palace following de Paule's election as Grand Master in 1623.

The palace was used as a residence by subsequent Grand Masters, being enlarged a number of times in the process. It was the headquarters of the rebel National Assembly during the uprising of 1798–1800, and it later became a residence for the civil commissioners, governors and governors-general of Malta. It was often used by British sovereigns and other royalty during their stay in Malta. It has been the official residence of the president since the office was created in December 1974.

The palace is surrounded by the extensive San Anton Gardens, parts of which have been open to the public since 1882.

Text adapted from “San Anton Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

San Anton Palace ranks #1,253 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #6 of the 19 mapped in Malta. Founded 1625, it is older than 30% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 580 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,058 times in the last 60 days, more than 75% of the atlas. 16 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Malta compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗