Auberge d'Aragon

There are a number of auberges located in Valletta and built of course by the knights.  The Auberge d'Italie backs onto St Catherine's, and the Auberge de Castille houses the government offices and is across the road from St Catherine's.  The auberges were built to house the knights of a particular langue, or nationality of the Order of St John.

The Auberge d'Aragon is further into Valletta on the other side of the peninsula in Independence Square and was used as the office of the Prime Minister until they moved to the Auberge de Castille.  Now it is used by the Ministry for Economic Services.

That is where I went on Monday evening for a special lecture hosted by AZAD, the Centre for Political Studies, the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry, The Giorgio Borg Olivier Foundation and the Academy for the Development of a Democratic Environment.  With such a host of prestigious organisations, I felt a little clumsy rocking up in my slightly grubby joggers and jeans but the weather was cold and I hadn't really made the decision to go along until I was having lunch in Valletta after going to the Hypogeum (see my next post).

Professor David Attard presented the lecture, "Towards an Equitable International Order: Borg Olivier's Contribution" and there were plenty of men in suits and politicians in the audience, including Prime Minister Gonzi.  The professor, a very confident speaker, wasn't going to let the opportunity for some lobbying slip by!  He focussed the lecture on his area which is International Law and in particular praised Borg Olivier's contribution to changes in the Law of the Sea.  I am still not entirely sure just what those changes were, but it seems that Borg Olivier's advocacy of the concept of the common heritage of mankind helped to shape the reframing of the law and paved the way for the development of laws related to outer space as well as international co-operation on climate change.  It was this latter aspect that Professor David Attard used to good effect in suggesting that Malta and our current government could play a significant role in international efforts to control global warming. 

After the lecture we were presented with a neatly bound copy of the lecture which I will have to read to fill out some of the details!  There was also wine and caviar distributed on silver platters in the colonnaded entrance courtyard of the auberge, but by then I was getting anxious about my last bus home so I slipped out.

The photo that heads the post is of my crib figurine posed in the Opera House traditional village!