Valletta-Walking on the Republic street Photo

Photographer’s Note

Valletta, the capital city of Malta, is built on the northern half of the Sciberras peninsula, which separates the Grand Harbour from Marsamxett Harbour. The city is completely surrounded by fortifications and covers an area that is 900 meters by 630 meters The street plan is based on a more or less uniform grid. Republic Street divides one side of the city from the other and runs from Fort St. Elmo to the City Gate. Many of the streets that run parallel to Republic Street fall steeply as you get closer to the tip of the peninsula. Transverse street begin as flights of stairs at each end. The stairs do not conform to normal dimensions since they were constructed so as to allow knights in heavy armour to be able to climb the steps. The steps contributes towards the uniqueness of Valletta. Any irregularities that occur in the streets grid were imposed on it by the lie of the land and the need to have unhampered communications around the circuit of the fortifications.
Valletta was the brainchild of Grand Master Jean de la Valette. When the knights agreed, although reluctantly, to make Malta their headquarters, de la Valette quickly realized that they needed a defensible city to protect the island against the Turkish hordes that had driven them out of Rhodes and had followed them all the way to Malta. At the Grand Master's request, the Pope sent his own architect and Michelangelo's assistant, Francesco Laparelli, to Malta to help with the building of Valletta. Arriving in Malta on December 28th, 1565, he had the plans for the city drawn within three days. On March 28th, the new city was officially born. The inauguration ceremony was held on the site of the Porta Reale (the site of the entrance gates to Valletta) and the city was christened Valletta after the Grand Master. The bastions surrounding the city are impressive indeed but were never tested. Perhaps the Turkish generals realized that they were no match against the fortified city. The Grand Harbour is virtually lined with a string of bastions. Fort Sant' Elmo and Fort Ricasoli (the largest fort in the Commonwealth) protect the entrance to the harbour. Fort St. Angelo and the walls of Birgu and Senglea across the harbour shield its flank. The Grand Master died before the city was finished.
Towards the end of 1568, the Maltese architect and engineer, Gerolamo Cassar, took charge of the building of the city when Laparelli left for active service in Crete, where he died. Cassar and Laparelli laid out the street plan for the city. The first building that went up in the city is the Church of Our Lady of Victory, which commemorates the lifting of the Great Siege. Cassar designed all the auberges, the Magisterial Palace, the Conventual Church of St. John, the parish church of St. Paul, the churches of St. Mary of Porto Salvo, Carmine, St. Augustine and St. Mary of Jesus, and numerous other buildings and houses for the members of the order. Cassar died in 1586.
(Source: www.maltagozo.com)

devimeuxbe, flory, lilimih33, sadeik, bostankorkulugu, isabela_sor, syd1946, Wanda1, carper, Greg1949, Deepforest, underhand, sabyasachi1212, jhm, danyy, leo61, Paolo, AiresSantos, mpetrovic, rigoletto, veve, Graal, orme, guillaumejm, robertosalguero, Fiddlee, Sne011 trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

bigboroboy (1009) 2007-03-24 10:01 [Comment]

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ORTZO (113) 2007-03-24 10:19

Many window...
Nice shot and a good picture cut!!

Tiziano

devimeuxbe (56100) 2007-03-24 10:19

Hi George
The POv is nice. You have choised a perfect symetry. It's nice to see thjis road fremed by the colorfull houses.
Bertrand

flory (4804) 2007-03-24 10:36

szia George,
wuauu..what agglomeration here!..:).good pov,spectacular for my eyes those buildings,and cars,and people,stairs(for the knights..:).read your note,uniqueness place,indeed..
nice we,
flory

kvananthnaag (376) 2007-03-24 10:42

Very beautiful view captured!! Very beautiful urban landscape TFS

Gustaw (21670) 2007-03-24 10:45

Hi, my friend!
It is very good photo, artistic photo! I like your rythm. Interesting old architecture and cars in one lines. Very good composition. Well done.
Marek

lilimih33 (9874) 2007-03-24 10:46

Hello George!
Lovely perspective!
Beautiful colours and interestind place!
Well done!
Lili

bostankorkulugu (33830) 2007-03-24 10:46

this is amazing george... such a beautiful pov and lots of details to explore... it is like 3D... a real good one, congrats...

have a great weekend

korkut:)

sadeik (3159) 2007-03-24 10:49

I like the photograph for its composition and interest but I would prefer it without the sky as it greatly improves your image without it, so a little cropping and hey presto a real eyefull of the architecture. A very colourful photo

Simon

bdayer (489) 2007-03-24 11:48

Hi George,
Excellent POV for this picture. I like the perspective given by the perfect symmetry. The light is excellent. This picture makes me remember some holidays some years ago and the walks throughout the narrow and sometimes steep street of La Valletta!
Best regards
Bertrand

syd1946 (17945) 2007-03-24 12:21

Hello George,
What a beautiful nice all over the scene!You choose a great point to take this shot,to enjoy the field of depth.Interesting architecture shot with a lively scenery!

Have a nice weekend,
Thomas

xavshot (62929) 2007-03-24 12:50

Bonjour George
très belle photo ! les faàades apportent de belles teintes et une belle profondeur. Beaucoup de détails et une belle lumière.
amicalement
Xavier

Wanda1 (11015) 2007-03-24 13:05

Hi George,
A great street scene with this wonderful jigsaw of buildings and cars. Nice light and point of view.
Regards
Wanda

carper (65350) 2007-03-24 13:16

very nice too see you again George,
this is a very nice view, the perspective is nice and the details and colours are good the pov is well choosen and the qyality is good, well done, have a nice sunday.
gr. jaap

hay_kes (28562) 2007-03-24 15:21

Hi George,
Just a wonderful architectural view.Great lighting, colours and perspective.Well captured.TFS.
Cheers!

hAyAti

prezntime (3945) 2007-03-24 16:30

Hello George.
This is a pretty cool shot. The busy nature of all of those houses gives a sense of the claustrophobic effects urban landscapes sometimes have. I like the divisions as well, it is a very symmetrical shot but the light shines on one side and the cars are lined only on one side...this just is interesting to me.
Good photograph George,
Chris.

Greg1949 (8511) 2007-03-24 17:13

What a great shot, busy busy busy and enough detail to get lost in. Color, saturation and exposure are on the mark and the hot side of the stre is not burned out, great capture.

Greg

Deepforest (8813) 2007-03-24 17:53

Hi George,
What a perspective! Really impressive photo, interesting general view and very good details simultaneously. Beautiful light, perfect symmetry and... comprehensive, useful note.
This is unusual work for me; I really enjoy it.
Best regards,
Andrzej

paura (38906) 2007-03-24 20:26

George,
Amazing shot, friend! Very interesting architecture details shot. Well done.

Paulo

sabyasachi1212 (19546) 2007-03-25 3:27

Hi George,
Good to see you back. You surely get to see some wonderful places as part of your job. Excellent POV.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

[2]

pablominto (41084) 2007-03-25 3:29

Hello George,
There is an excellent perspective and the tele compression adds a ton to the image!
Awesone architectural details and good colours...
A well framed scenery and a strange dynamics in the image!
Greetings,
Pablo -

:-) OK-

jhm (83073) 2007-03-25 6:19

Hi George,

You chose a excellent angle, we see the straat very well, this gives lovely depth and perspective, also the both fronts in the street make your picture very attractive and colourful. Excellent composition too!

Have a nice sunday,
John.

vincz (19043) 2007-03-25 6:34

Great POV with this street going up. This picture is full of life. A very nice one.

danyy (69223) 2007-03-25 17:39

C'est parfait comme prise de vue George,
une vue écrasée qui a pour effet d'enfiler les façades et d'en voir beaucoup dans le champs.
Une photo nette avec une DOF assez longue.
Les teintes orangées sont superbes.
Bien à toi.
Daniel.

leo61 (43476) 2007-03-26 2:21

Hi George!
Great shot with good perspective.I like how the street with the cars is framed by the facades.A sharp image with many good details.
Regards,Leo

Paolo (40741) 2007-03-26 4:52

Hi George, excellent view of that famous and wonderful street of La Valletta.
the exposure, the POV and the quality are all at top level!
thanks, ciao

berek (28979) 2007-03-26 5:23

Hi George,
so interesting busy street. I like architecture and your point of view. have a nice week.
Burak
****

isabela_sor (42281) 2007-03-26 6:57

You did here a great work,using the perfect POV,the symmetry and more the perfect time for catching this agglomeration of people and cars!I can see there the design of all buildings is the same ...
A nice weekend
Isabela

AiresSantos (42624) 2007-03-26 7:03

Hi Geoge,
Great point of view, beautiful achitecture effect. Horgeous the lines created by the cars.
I also like the colours and how you managed the light
TFS and greetings
Aires

mpetrovic (1479) 2007-03-26 7:42

very good note.

but the shot is perfect. couldn't resist not to add it into favourites.
it is simply... stunning.. because of number of cars, and cascadely built houses and balconies.. makes me feel the rush and tightness of a life in a city, but also, bright sun and architecture tells me this is Mediterran site, with laid back life and smell of the sea.. so I have no clue what to think about it :) In other words, your photo makes people's minds think about it!

marko

agbonavita (0) 2007-03-26 11:31

Intersting photo Geoge. I like the way the cars are lined up. I'm imagine living there in the botton of the road and the bakery in the top, oooh my legs you gonna hurt! :D

Nice colors and depth.

Regards
Andre

rigoletto (26566) 2007-03-27 14:05

Hello George,
Your Malta photos are wonderful and quite interesting. It has been long since my plans for a vacation in Malta flourished but searching the Internet, i was unable to find any different and detailed posts depicting the depths of Valletta. And oh yes, it looks just as i had dreamed of. Just a wonderful ocean of great architecture made of yellow stone. This photo of yours depict this texture from a great POV and that uphill street warns me what i will be face to face when i one day visit there. Excellent note too. TFS,
Deniz

veve (4149) 2007-03-27 16:14

Hi George,
Very good shot!
I like how you've framed this image!
Interesting capture of this street full of balconies!Nice architecture!
Great work!
Best wishes,
Veronica

Graal (58445) 2007-03-28 2:09

Jó napot George,
unusual view and perspective, good captured place and theme, pleasant colours. I like it. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

ben4321 (9807) 2007-03-29 6:23

I'm guessing you used a telephoto lens for this one George, and I like the compression of perspective that has resulted. All the buildings look densely packed together, and the steepness of the hill is exagerrated.
It reminds me of San Francisco.
Good stuff George.

Cheers,
Ben

orme (6746) 2007-03-29 8:51

I like how you have framed this shot, George.
The architecture is very interesting and the people add a great deal of energy to the composition.
You have given me a wonderful impression of Malta.

guillaumejm (30) 2007-03-29 17:47

hello george,
A very nice picture . The architecture by your pov gives a very interesting graphical effect. the street brings the perspective nicely.
Light and colours are very good.
Best regards
JMarc

robertosalguero (110) 2007-04-10 23:04

Wow, lots of balconies and flags everywhere. The narrow road leading down and the precious architecture of this street is priceless. Good perspective of this place and well exposed. Good composition George.

Roberto

mikeo (12117) 2007-07-19 6:53

Hello,
Very nice picture! I was on Malta last year and really loved these narrow streets with their own so great climate...
Very nice shot!

Greetings,
Aga

Juzo (490) 2009-11-08 6:34

Hi George,
This is such an attractive scene - I love it! I oov ethe character of the old street and the colour, clarity and depth are fantastic. Great work!
Regards
Justin