The same is true of the great religious buildings as Our Lady of Victory (1566), St Catherine (1576), and Il Gesù (1595). The improvements attributed to the military engineers and architects of the 18th century have not disturbed this harmony (Auberge de Bavière, Church of the Shipwreck of St Paul, Library and Mantel Theatre, etc.). The total of 320 historic monuments within a confined area of 55 ha is among the most strongly concentrated of this nature in the world.
The interweave of the urban fabric is of excellent quality and even the minor architecture has undergone no substantial alteration. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the influence of English architecture has combined in a surprising manner with that of the older existing local structures, creating new and original forms (for example narrow houses with bow windows, which fit well into the urban milieu. Moreover, the state of preservation of its well-constructed patrimony serves to make Valletta an example of historic conservation on a universal scale.