The Church of St Nicholas is a Greek Catholic church in Valletta. It was originally built to serve as a Greek Orthodox church in 1569. Following the Union of Brest in 1595-96 the Greek Catholic Church came into existence. It was in 1639 that the then parish priest decided to separate from the Orthodox church and join the Greek Catholic Church.
Some time later it was decided to rebuild the church to the design of the Italian architect Francesco Buonamici. The church was rebuilt on the ground plan of a Greek cross in 1652. It has a dome over the crossing supported by four free-standing columns, and a choir in the apse. On September 17, 1766, the parish church and the Confraternity of the Holy Souls signed a concordat that regulates their relations.
The church suffered considerable damage during World War II; it was repaired by the year 1951.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.