Razzett History
The *thing* about vernacular architecture is that it
doesn’t seek in any way to aggrandise the architect. It is not built to the greater glory of a god
or gods. It is, very simply, the response
of ordinary people to a specific problem or requirement.
Thus it was with the Maltese
rażżett, which saw its first incarnation during the 1500s as a response to the
urgent need for a place of safety from the slave raids of the marauding
Turks. This was no groundless fear – on
Friday 24th July 1551 the
corsair Dragut Rais with Sinan Pasha descended on Gozo with 140 galleys as
recorded by the Chronicler of the Order of the Knights of St John. The island was sacked and after the furious
battles any survivors were taken as slaves.
Following this the Knights
issued a curfew, requiring people who lived close enough to the fortified city
of Mdina (built, ironically enough, by Arabs some 600 years earlier!) to spend
their nights within its walls, but those who lived further afield had perforce
to fend for themselves.