Inquisitor's Palace

Inquisitor's Palace
Il-Palazz tal-Inkwiżitur
Façade of the Inquisitor's Palace
Former names	Castellania Palazzo del Sant'Officio
Alternative names	National Museum of Ethnography
General information
Status	Intact
Type	Courthouse, prison and palace (now museum)
Location	Birgu, Malta
Coordinates	35°53′14″N 14°31′21″E / 35.88722°N 14.52250°E / 35.88722; 14.52250
Current tenants	Heritage Malta
Completed	c. 1530s
Renovated	16th–20th centuries
Owner	Government of Malta
Technical details
Material	Limestone
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Diego Perez de Malfreire or Nicolò Flavari (attributed)
Renovating team
Architect(s)	Several architects, including: Francesco Sammut Giovanni Barbara Romano Carapecchia
Website
Heritage Malta

The Inquisitor's Palace (Maltese: Il-Palazz tal-Inkwiżitur),^[1] also known as the Sacred Palace,^[2] is a palace in Birgu, Malta. It was the seat of the Maltese Inquisition from 1574 to 1798, under the name Palazzo del Sant'Officio (Sicilian: Sant'Ujfizzio di Malta).^[3] The building was originally constructed as a courthouse known as the Castellania in the early 16th century, but little remains of the original building due to major alterations and renovations carried out in the subsequent centuries.

After the inquisition was abolished during the French occupation of Malta in 1798, the palace was used for a number of purposes, including as a military hospital, a mess hall and a convent. It has been a museum since 1966, being known as the National Museum of Ethnography since 1992. The building is one of the few surviving palaces of its kind in the world, and the only one which is open to the public.