A joint stamp issue with Romania featuring ' Palaces'
On the 14 October219 MaltaPost and Romania Post will be releasing a joint stamp issue, with 'Palaces' as a theme common to both countries. The issue consists of two stamps, one featuring the Verdala Palace in Malta and the other, the Mogosoaia Palace outside Bucharest.
Malta - Verdala Palace
Verdala Palace was originally a small hunting lodge was built during the reign of Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette. In 1586 Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle extended and rebuilt the hunting lodge into the grand palace we see today which overlooks the beautiful Buskett woodlands.
The Palace was designed by the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar renowned for designing many important buildings in Valletta. The structure is a good example of Renaissance architecture and it was designed as a quadrangular structure with four pentagonal bastion-like turrets, one at each corner. It is surrounded by a stone quarried ditch which gives it the appearance of a fort. A chapel, stables and servants quarters are set in its surrounding grounds.
Over the years the Palace served a range of purposes. It was used as a military prison for French soldiers captured during the Blockade of 1798-1800. Later, the building served as a silk factory , hence the multitude of mulberry trees in its vicinity and it was also one of many hospitals in Malta that hosted the wounded from the Great War. Since 1982 the Palace serves as the summer residence of the President of Malta.
Romania - The Mogosoaia Palace
The Mogosoaia Palace is located some 15km away from Bucharest. Its building was commissioned by the ruler Constantin Brancoveanu and was built in a Brancovenesc style and completed in 1702 .The name of the palace originates from the widow of the Romanian Boyar, who owned the land it was built on and the complex consists of the palace and its courtyard, a watchtower, a guesthouse, a church and extensive gardens.
The family owned the palace until the early nineteenth century when it was passed from one owner to another. However, during World War I the Palace was heavily damaged. Reconstruction work soon began by Martha Bibescu under the guidance of architect George Matei Cantacuzino.
The Mogosoaia Palace was officially inaugurated in 1927 and it became the meeting place for politicians and high society members.
Nowadays the Palace has become a popular tourist destination and houses an art gallery and the Museum of the Aulic Tradition having a vast collection of medieval and contemporary art.
