and Economic Services. In March 2004, the auberge became the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs. From 2012, it was used by the Ministry for Home and Parliamentary Affairs, and it later became the Ministry for Home Affairs and the Ministry for EU Affairs. In 2016, the building housed the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as well as the Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds. From 2017 to 2020, the auberge housed the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality. Since 2020, the auberge has been the Ministry for Justice. During restoration works carried out in 2019, an early 18th century bakery oven, some wells and water canals were discovered buried under debris in an underground part of the auberge. The building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925 together with the other auberges in Valletta. It is now scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, and it is also listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Architecture Auberge d'Aragon is built in the Mannerist style typical of its architect Girolamo Cassar, and it is the only auberge in Valletta which still retains its original design. It is a single-story building with a rectangular plan and a central arcaded courtyard. The building does not have a symmetric façade, despite the effort of the architect to make it appear so. It contains a main doorway flanked by three moulded windows on either side. It is rather plain, with its decorative emphasis being the continuous cornice along roof level and the rusticated corners. A Doric portico leads to the doorway, and it is the only major alteration to the auberge. The building was originally painted in red ochre, a colour used by the Order to mark public buildings. Some traces of the paint can still be seen at the rear part of the auberge. The interior of the building contains some Renaissance-era rooms. Notes References Further reading External links Palaces in Valletta Buildings and structures in Valletta Mannerist architecture in Malta Defunct schools in Malta Defunct hospitals in Malta Government buildings in Malta Buildings and structures completed in 1571 Bakeries of Malta Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands