The Malta Independent on Sunday
Students share their experience of a visit to a noble house in Valletta
On 21 March Marquis Nicholas de Piro invited a group of students from St Margaret College Senior Secondary School, Verdala, Cospicua to experience the beauty and elegance of his living noble house museum in Valletta – Casa Rocca Piccola. Students were accompanied by teacher Martin Azzopardi sdc and teacher Joanne Dalli and had the honour to be guided by the Marquis de Piro round the whole house. During this visit students had the honour and pleasure to meet his wife, Madam Frances de Piro.
Casa Rocca Piccola was built in 1580 just few years after the great siege of Malta when the city of Valletta was still in construction. Most of Valletta’s streets, palaces and churches were designed to give prestige and aesthetic beauty to the city. Casa Rocca Piccola was one of two houses built in Valletta by Admiral Don Pietro la Rocca and it is one of the few houses in Valletta designed with an indoor garden. During the late 18th century some changes were made to divide the house into two smaller houses and further changes were made in 1918. During the Second World War air raid shelters were added to the house, in fact, the shelter was the second airraid shelter to be dug in Malta.
Casa Rocca Piccola has over 50 rooms, including two libraries, two dining rooms, many drawing rooms and even a private family chapel. The house is furnished with collections of antique furniture, silver and paintings from Malta and Europe. In fact students were amazed to see the collection of perfume small bottles and a medical set used by the Order of St John which is still preserved in the house. In Casa Rocca Piccola one can also find Malta's largest private collection of antique costumes including Maltese lace dresses. In fact Casa Rocca Piccola houses the largest private collection of Maltese lace.
Casa Rocca Piccola is also famous for the de Piro family archives − Archivium de Piro which contains detailed records of family and state businesses dating from the late 16th century to the present day. These include business contracts, marriage contracts, bills, wills and court cases. In fact the Archivium de Piro is nowadays used for research projects at the University of Malta and the University of Oxford.
Throughout this visit, students learnt to appreciate the great work of art and collections which Casa Rocca Piccola houses while enriching their general knowledge about Maltese art, customs and history.