Inquisitor’s Palace

Despite its 500 years of chequered history, the Inquisitor’s Palace is a unique centre of power in early modern Malta, for between 1574 and 1798 it served as residence and tribunal to the Inquisitor in his dual role of supreme judge of the Holy Office and a cultured and powerful Apostolic Delegate representing the Vatican’s interests in Malta.

We know that many Inquisitors had refined tastes catered for by a sophisticated kitchen where spices, sugar, coffee, chocolate and ice were customary, and maccheroni, pies, meat, fish, pasta sfoglia, biscuits, sorbet and ice cream were the fare they sampled, enjoyed and offered to their guests.