Submitted by Val Hiscock on
During his recent visit to Malta, H.E. Chev Don Francisco de Borbon Graf von Hardenberg, the Grand Master of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem and Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of the Castello, based at Torri Lanzun in Mensija, San Ġwann, paid a courtesy visit to His Excellency Dr George Vella, the President of Malta. The Grand Master was accompanied by Chev Paul Warren and Chev Carmel Bonello, respectively Commander and Former Commander of the Grand Commandery of the Castello.
The Grand Master presented the President with a hand-painted icon depicting ‘St Lazarus – The Friend of Christ’ by a Georgian artist Aleksandre Iashagashvili. The icon was commissioned specifically for this occasion.
The Grand Master visited Malta to mark two 50th anniversaries. On 12th May 1973, Castello Lanzun, or it-Torri ta’ Lanzun as it is known in Malta, was formally opened by the then Grand Master of the Order, His Excellency Don Francisco de Borbón y Borbón, as the official worldwide headquarters of the Order of St Lazarus and also as the home of the Grand Commandery of the Castello, a Malta-based, ecumenical and international jurisdiction of this noble and ancient Order.