MDINA : architectural and urban transformations of a citadel in Malta
Conrad Gerald Thake, University of California, Berkeley (Degree granting institution)
This dissertation is an urban historical account of Mdina, a small fortified citadel in the Mediterranean island of Malta, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It considers the impact of the 1693 earthquake, the post-earthquake reconstruction efforts of the local church, and the intensive urban revitalization of the city by the Portuguese Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena (1722-1736). Underlying these architectural and urban transformations is an intriguing political process by which both the Maltese church represented by the Cathedral Chapter and Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena sought to control the citadel. Mdina as the traditional Episcopal see was eventually transformed by Vilhena into an opulent Baroque urban stage-set in the image of the Order
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 1996