I refer to question addressed to the Department of Information within the article entitled Odds & Ends (TMID, 15 May). The question concerns which is the right term to use for the Verdala building, castle or palace.

Verdala Palace is a fortified palace, built towards the end of the 16th century to serve as a summer residence for the Grand Master and his retinue. Although frequently called a castle, it is, however, technically not so.

Verdala Palace cannot be termed a fort as its structural layout was determined by concerns for residential luxury and state functions. Both castle and fort would have been designed and built to address military concerns.

Emanuel Abela

Director of Information