Vittorio Bontadini, better known as Bontadino de Bontadini (died 1620), was a Bolognese hydraulic engineer, architect, mathematician and wood carver. He is mostly known for designing the Wignacourt Aqueduct in Malta. [1]
The Order of St. John had been trying to build an aqueduct to supply their capital city Valletta since 1596. In early 1612, engineer Natale Tomasucci left the island after being unable to solve the problem of how water would flow at Attard. In July of that year, Bontadini took over the project, [2] possibly on the recommendation of Inquisitor Evangelista Carbonesi, who was also from Bologna. [3] Bontadini adopted the idea of Giovanni Attard and other capomastri to construct arches along depressions in the ground, and run the aqueduct through pipes in the arches. His most significant contribution to the project was the idea to use pozzolana to make the pipes waterproof. The aqueduct was completed three years later, being inaugurated on 21 April 1615. [2] [4]
Bontadini's role in constructing the aqueduct was commemorated by Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt by several inscriptions on fountains and other parts of the aqueduct. The inscriptions usually went along the lines of:
BONTADINO DE BONTADINIS, BONON AQUÆ DUCTORE MDCXV.
(meaning Bontadino de Bontadini from Bologna is he who delivered the waters 1615.)
According to historian Giovanni Bonello, Bontadini was the first architect to introduce the Baroque style in Malta, having designed the Wignacourt Arch and various fountains and other decorative elements within the aqueduct. [5]
In 1620, Bontadini was murdered in Malta by Ferrante Marangio, an assassin who had been hired by three knights of the Order. The reason behind the assassination is not known. [5]
Attard is a town in the Central Region of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija it forms part of "the Three Villages" and has been inhabited since the Classical Period. It has a population of 12,268 as of 2021. Attard's traditional Latin motto is Florigera rosis halo due to its many flower gardens and citrus orchards. Attard is abundant with public gardens. The inhabitants of Attard are known as saraċini.
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to combat the Reformation and the Protestant church with a new architecture that inspired surprise and awe. It reached its peak in the High Baroque (1625–1675), when it was used in churches and palaces in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Bavaria and Austria. In the Late Baroque period (1675–1750), it reached as far as Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America. In about 1730, an even more elaborately decorative variant called Rococo appeared and flourished in Central Europe.
Santa Venera is a town in the Central Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and it also borders Qormi and Msida.
Fra Gregorio Carafa was a nobleman from the House of Carafa and the 61st Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, from 1680 to his death in 1690.
Maltese architecture has its origins in prehistory, and some of the oldest free-standing structures on Earth – a series of megalithic temples – can be found on Malta. The islands were colonized by the Phoenicians and later the Romans, who established the cities of Melite and Gaulos. Although these were substantial settlements and are known to have had numerous temples, churches and palaces, few remains have survived apart from some architectural fragments.
This page list topics related to Malta.
St John's Square is found in front of St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, the capital of Malta. It has several outdoor cafés, surrounded by a graceful arcade.
Tommaso Dingli was a Maltese architect and sculptor. One of the last Renaissance architects on the island, he designed several parish churches, most notably those of Attard and Birkirkara.
Marsalforn Tower refers to two towers that stood near Marsalforn, in the limits of Xagħra, Gozo, Malta. The first one was built in 1616, as the fourth of six Wignacourt towers, and collapsed around 1715. The second was a Tour-reduit, which was built in 1720 and demolished in 1915.
Wignacourt is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Aqueducts are bridges constructed to convey watercourses across gaps such as valleys or ravines. The term aqueduct may also be used to refer to the entire watercourse, as well as the bridge. Large navigable aqueducts are used as transport links for boats or ships. Aqueducts must span a crossing at the same level as the watercourses on each end. The word is derived from the Latin aqua ("water") and ducere, therefore meaning "to lead water". A modern version of an aqueduct is a pipeline bridge. They may take the form of tunnels, networks of surface channels and canals, covered clay pipes or monumental bridges.
Hospitaller Malta, known within Maltese history as the Knights' Period, was a de facto state which existed between 1530 and 1798 when the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo were ruled by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. It was formally a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily, and it came into being when Emperor Charles V granted the islands as well as the city of Tripoli in modern Libya to the Order, following the latter's loss of Rhodes in 1522. Hospitaller Tripoli was lost to the Ottoman Empire in 1551, but an Ottoman attempt to take Malta in 1565 failed.
Fleur-de-Lys is a suburb that forms part of Birkirkara, and it is also considered a suburb of Santa Venera and Qormi. It lies approximately 5 kilometers away from Malta's capital, Valletta. The population of Fleur-de-Lys is about 2200 people and the area is very small.
The Wignacourt Aqueduct is a 17th-century aqueduct in Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat to the newly built capital city Valletta. The aqueduct carried water through underground pipes and over arched viaducts across depressions in the ground.
Vittorio Cassar, born Gio Vittorio Cassar, was a Maltese architect and military engineer. The son of the renowned architect Girolamo Cassar, he was admitted as a knight within the Order of St. John in 1587. He became the Order's resident engineer in the early 17th century, and he directed the upgrading of the Cittadella of Gozo between 1600 and 1603.
The Wignacourt Arch known as the Fleur-De-Lys Gate is an ornamental arch located on the boundary between Fleur-de-Lys and Santa Venera, Malta. The arch was originally built in 1615 as part of the Wignacourt Aqueduct, but it was destroyed between 1943 and 1944. A replica of the arch was constructed in 2015 and inaugurated on 28 April 2016.
Giovanni Attard was a Maltese architect, military engineer and stone carver from the town of Lija. He is mostly known for his role in the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct between 1610 and 1615.
Ġnien is-Sultan, also known as the Giardino della Marina, the Grand Master's Garden or Lascaris Garden, was a garden in Valletta, Malta. It was established in the 17th century by Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, and included a summer residence for the Grand Master. The garden included several Baroque elements designed by Francesco Buonamici.
Maltese Baroque architecture is the form of Baroque architecture that developed in Malta during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the islands were under the rule of the Order of St. John. The Baroque style was introduced in Malta in the early 17th century, possibly by the Bolognese engineer Bontadino de Bontadini during the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct. The style became popular in the mid to late 17th century, and it reached its peak during the 18th century, when monumental Baroque structures such as Auberge de Castille were constructed.
Emanuele Luigi Galizia was a Maltese architect and civil engineer, who designed many public buildings and several churches. He is regarded as "the principal Maltese architect throughout the second half of the nineteenth century".