Another shot from my Notte Biance album taken from Upper Barrakka. The Santa Barbara bastion is part of the Valletta city wall. During the time of the Knights of St John, it fell under the responsibility of the Langue of Castille, Leon and Portugal.
Clustered under the walls are the Barriera Stores consisting of a long two-storey façade with 15 large 2-storey stores. They were built during the Grand Mastership of Ramon Perellos (1697-1720) for the convenience of merchants engaged in trading business, who could also avail themselves of lodging quarters in spacious attics in the upper storey.
For many many years, more than I can remember, these stores have served as Customs Bonded warehouses for high-duty wines, spirits, cigarettes and perfume costing millions and millions of old Maltese Liri (last quote 2.33 Euros each). I was in charge of these stores for some years when I was Senior Customs Officer decades ago. Today they still serve the same function but are run by a private consortium.
Thank you very much for looking and for your lovely comments on yesterday's picture.
Not only is it historic, it has a personal history with you- that's cool! It looks lovely at night, but I'm sure the responsibility of overseeing it was not something to be taken lightly. Nice shot Dione.
