The splendid Palazzo Falson, which is one of the oldest surviving homes in Malta, built in the 13th century, has a dazzling and extensive private collection on display, including furniture, watches, silver, jewellery, oriental rugs, paintings, armoury and books.
The Palazzo is named after its 16th century owner Vice Admiral Michele Falsone, although the amazing collection was brought together by researcher, philanthropist and artist Captain Olof Gollcher (1889-1962), who bought the Palazzo in 1927.
After your visit, be sure to have a break at the palazzo’s splendid rooftop café, which commands a panoramic view of Malta, the open sea and the prominent dome of the nearby Mdina Cathedral.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).