The Order decided to build a new fortified city as their new capital, and it was called Valletta after Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette.

Pope Pius V not only helped out financially, but he also sent the Italian military engineer Francesco Laparelli to Malta in order to design the new capital's fortifications.

Following Laparelli's departure from Malta and his subsequent death, construction of the city was entrusted to his Maltese assistant, the architect and military engineer Girolamo Cassar.

[3] In 1646, Grand Master Giovanni Paolo Lascaris grafted a number of warehouses for the storage of gunpowder and muskets on the flank and gorge of the cavalier.

An unobtrusive penthouse was built on the cavalier's roof as the residence of the Head of the Mission, and from it one can see an excellent view of the city below as well as the surrounding towns and villages.

[2] Despite the impression of size given by the external aspect of the building, half of the structure was filled with compressed earth and the rest consisted of series of sparse chambers and a ramp by which cannons could reach the roof.