Vittorio Cassar was a Maltese architect, engineer and knight in the late 16th and early 17th century.
Background
Vittorio Cassar was born around 1550 in the town of Birgu. His father was the architect Girolamo Cassar and his mother Mattea Cassar. In the 1570s, his family moved to Strada Pia (now Melita Street) in the newly built capital city Valletta, where his father had designed many buildings.
Career
He is claimed to have designed several fortifications and churches, but very few documents supporting his involvement exist. Many details about his life, including his date of birth and death, are also disputed. On 9 April 1587, Cassar joined the Order of Saint John.
Since there was no langue for Maltese knights, he was admitted into the langue of Castile.
On 18 May of that same year, he was created serjeant-at-arms at the Collegiate Parish Church of Street Paul"s Shipwreck in Valletta. In 1594, the Order sent Cassar to various towns in Italy to study various buildings and fortifications and meet famous engineers.
After he arrived back in Malta, Cassar was appointed resident engineer of the Order. He spent part of his career in Gozo, and was involved in the rebuilding of the Cittadella and the construction of Garzes Tower.
However, he developed an uneasy relationship with Fra Ferdinando de Rosolmini, the Governor of Gozo, and was dismissed from attending to Gozo"s defences by 1603.
Cassar was also involved in the construction of various churches. The date and circumstances of Cassar"s death are unknown. lieutenant is traditionally held that he died in 1607 on the island of Gozo.
However, some sources say that he died in mid-June 1609.