Inquisitor's Palace — Attraction in Qormi

Last Tuesday I visited the exhibition here hosted Betrayal & Vengeance: The Slaves' Conspiracy of 1749, which has received vast publicity all over the island: I am frankly shocked by the poorness and partiality of the communication which led to a horrific justification of slavism and revendication as a key part of Maltese history. The exhibition is based only on the perspective of the authorities of the 18th century Order of Knights of Malta who led the investigations and it presents this point of view as objective and as the only one having validity: this partiality and lack of critics of documentation is not anymore acceptable in contemporary historical science. A serious historian has the duty to contextualise the documents, which means mainly to highlight where there are lackness or partialities: on the contrary, the curator extrapolated parts of letters and presented them in some cases with a pejorative translation (the n word is used) as objective and plain documents of the facts. The video, which was a grotesque diorama made with the watercolours exposed, did not contribute to the contextualisation of facts, on the contrary it dramatised the facts as they were presented by the inquisitors, in this way evaluating a narration which today can be used to reinforce racial and religious stereotypes. In the narration the curators favour the use of the racist nicknames, rendering these people the caricatures the Inquisitors wanted them to be, depriving them in this way of any dignity, diminishing the agency they obviously had and endorsing a colonial and racist vision. I won't even mention the tactless attempt to merchandize this tragic event with misplaced irony. The authorities of Malta who hosted and promoted this exhibition should be ashamed...

The Inquisitor's Palace is an interesting historical site in Malta, but its past is deeply troubling and not for the faint-hearted. While the architecture is impressive and the museum offers an insight into the island’s history, it's important to acknowledge the dark and disturbing legacy of this building.

The palace was the seat of the Spanish Inquisition in Malta, and it was used for torture, executions, and the persecution of anyone accused of heresy, witchcraft, or religious dissent. The Inquisitors were empowered by the Vatican and the Spanish Crown to extract confessions from the accused, often through brutal methods like waterboarding, thumb screws, and the rack. Those found guilty could be burned at the stake or sentenced to imprisonment for years without trial. The building’s dungeons were used to house victims, and it stands as a chilling reminder of the cruelty of the era.

Additionally, the Inquisition's reach extended to the persecution of minorities — including Jews, Muslims, and Protestants — and the censorship of ideas. Intellectuals and scientists were silenced for their ideas, and books by figures like Galileo and Copernicus were banned. The psychological toll on those accused, as well as their families, was immense, as lives were destroyed on the mere suspicion of heresy.

While some may take pride in the site for its historical significance, it's crucial to remember the immense suffering that took place here. The palace was a center of religious intolerance and fear for centuries. Visiting it is a sobering experience, but it's not a place to celebrate. If you're interested in Malta's history, be prepared to confront its darker, more...

The Inquisitors Palace was built in 1530 for a Grand Master who wanted to create a civil tribunal, or courthouse. The first lnquisitor was installed to keep the Roman Catholic faith and law and order under one roof. Anyone caught breaking the rules would be brought to the courthouse and either jailed, tortured or ridiculed in the streets depending on the severity of their crime. In 1798 when Malta fell under French rule the Palace was used as their headquarters, they gave the Inquisitors and everyone in the Palace just two days to pack their bags and leave! When the British came to rule in the 1800's the Palace went through a few changes. It became a military hospital, a mess hall, and a convent over the course of a hundred years until the British exchanged it with the Maltese civil authorities for properties in Valletta. In 1908 the Public Works Office planned to demolish it and build Government apartments, but that didn't materialise after public outcry. Ilt became a museum from 1926 through to WWll when it became a refuge to house the islands clergy as their convent was bombed It was a great idea, but after the war it took until December 1960 to get them out, despite the convent being rebuilt by 1954. Eventually it reverted back a museum and opened its doors to the...