Malta Unwrapped

25/04/2024

12/04/2024

The house of the Baroness, located in the limits if St Leonard, Zabbar, was originally intended to be used as a convent but was never utilised as such. The origins of the complex go back to the construction of St Leonard chapel in 1656, from which the name of the locality derives. The chapel once held the paintings of St Sebastian and St Roque, which were stolen in the 1980s and are now on display at the Zabbar Sanctuary Museum.

The structure and adjacent plots of land were owned by Baroness Maria Casici Casolani in the early 20th century and were used as a country, hence the name the house of the Baroness.

Various additions were constructed, including the stome wall and gates surrounding the garden, which datea back to 1905. The residence with its tower and loopholes is a reminder of countryside villas which required protection against corsair attacks.

The structure was abandoned in the post war years, save for the chapel which served the ecclesiastical needs of residents until the 1970s. It was later featured in a local tv series and is now known as the Nun’s house.

The house was scheduled as a Grade 2 monument in 2006, however, it has been left exposed to the elements and subjected to plundering and is now in ruins.

11/04/2024

The Majestic cinema theatre was located in St Anne’s square, Sliema. It was originally called the Harding Cinematograph and was built in c.1908, making it one of the oldest cinemas on the island.

Another cinema, bearing the same name and also owned by Harding was located in St George’s square, Valletta. By January 1897, the Valletta cinema was already in use.

Today, only the facade remains, the foyer and auditorium having been replaced with a shopping centre.

05/04/2024

30/01/2024

The Niche of All Souls (Niċċa ta’ l - Erwieh or Niċċa ta’ l - Infetti in Maltese) in Birkirkara, was built in 1816 to remember all the victims of the 1813 plague.

Between April 1813 and September 1814, the Maltese were hit by the Plague which resulted in 4572 deaths. Birkirkara which was one of the most populated villages, registered 281 deaths.

The niche was built with the help from the Parnis family from Birkirkara, who had bought the land for 9 skudi (approx. €2.19). The niche was inaugurated on 1 November 1916, and many people from Birkirkara attended, most of which lost relatives to the plague.

The niche is 25 courses high and is accessible through a staircase attached to the side. Inside the niche is a painting, depicting all souls in purgotary.

02/01/2024

05/12/2023

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! 🎄

22/11/2023

After the first rain … magical!!

29/10/2023

This monument was erected in 1787 on the initiative of the knight Anacleto Dei Conti Zarzana, to commemorate the fallen knights of the 1565 Great Siege of Malta.

The monument also remembers the victims of the plague outbreak of 1676. The plague resulted in approximately 11,300 deaths, making it the deadliest epidemic in Maltese history.

21/09/2023

Happy Independence Day Malta!

16/09/2023

Blackley’s, located in Valletta, was a typical British Baker and Tea Room. A scrumptious selection of British cakes, bakes and pastries was served here.

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09/05/2023

Hompesch Hunting Lodge (locally known as Id-Dar tal-Kaċċa), is an 18th century hunting lodge in Naxxar.

It was built on the request and at the expense of the reigning Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St John, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim.

The hunting lodge is modest in its architecture. It features a main door leading to the entry of the house and another arched wider door which was used as a horse stable. The first floor façade features a small window and a balcony, which is today plastered in cement.

Today, the building is in a dilapidated state.

📷 Continentaleurope

08/05/2023

Villa Macedonia is a one storey villa in Balzan. It was built by Count Bernardo Manduca Piscopo Macedonia Zammit in 1934 as his personal residence.

On a frieze above the portico there is inscribed VILLA MACEDONIA MCM###IV (1934).

On one of the corners of the boundary wall, there is a large stone niche with a statue of Our Lady of Forsaken Souls (in Maltese - Madonna tal - Abbandunati).

#1934

06/05/2023

A spontaneous visit to the H’Attard Second World War underground shelters.

05/05/2023

Ballutta Buildings is an Art Nouveau apartment overlooking Ballutta Bay in St Julians.It was built for the Marquis John Scicluna.

The building's site originally consisted of terraced fields, which were incorporated into the garden of the nearby Villa St Ignatius in the early 19th century. In the 1920s, the villa and its grounds were divided and sold off and the first part of the former garden to be built up was Ballutta Buildings.

The apartment block was built in 1928 on the designs of architect Giuseppe Psaila. The building's name derives from the oak trees (in Maltese - Ballut), which grew in the area in front of it, that also gave the bay its name.

Ballutta Buildings consists of three connected blocks of flats, with three vertical structures having long vertical arched openings protruding from the rest of the building. Each block is topped by a pediment, and the architraves below each have inscriptions which read BALLUTA BUILDINGS A.D. MCMXXVIII (1928).

The building is considered to be among the finest of the few surviving examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Malta.

📷 KappaVision

16/04/2023

16/04/2023

After more than 25 years away from the public eye, centuries-old tapestries will be exhibited at Valletta’s St. John’s Co-Cathedral after being restored to their former glory. Commissioned by Grandmaster Ramon y Perellos in 1697, the tapestry set consists of 29 pieces depicting the Triumph of th...

09/04/2023

St Mary Magdalene Chapel is a Roman Catholic chapel located in the limits of Dingli. It overlooks Dingli Cliffs and is therefore also known as il- kappella tal - irdum (chapel of the cliffs).

The date of its construction is not know, but the oldest reference to the building was made in 1446. It was mostly used by farmers working and living on the nearby farms.

By 1575 it was in a state of disrepair and eventually collapsed. It was rebuilt in the 17th century and reopened on 15 April 1646.

It was deconsecrated in the 19th century but it was later reconsecrated.

The chapel was hit by lightning on 4 February 1936 and was restored shortly after. It was hit by lightning once again on 10 December 2014. Repairs were carried out and the chapel reopened in 2015.

16/02/2023

The Captain's Tower was built by the Order of the Knights of St John in mid 16th Century. It's purpose was to house the captain of the Naxxar militia after the Order failed to requisition the nearby Gauci Tower in 1548. The Captain's Tower is one of the earliest Hospitaller fortifications in Malta.

The tower's design is similar to the Gauci Tower as well as earlier Hospitaller towers in Rhodes. The tower consists of a square plan with three floors. It contains a number of box machicolations (a floor opening through which stones or boiling oil, could be dropped on attackers), and a columbaria which housed carrier pigeons to relay messages to Mdina  or Valletta.

The tower and the house built with it were used as a temporary hospital during the plague epidemic of 1675 - 1676.

Today, the Captain's Tower is in good condition. It is privately owned and is not open to the public.

15/02/2023

The Lija Belvedere Tower in Lija was designed in 1857 by the Maltese architect Giuseppe Bonavia.

Marquis Depiro and his family, the then owners of the nearby Villa Gourigon, commissioned Bonavia to construct this folly in the middle of their orange groves. The Belvedere was used as a place of relaxation by the residents and their guests.

With the opening of Transfiguration Avenue in the 1950s, the belvedere was detached from Villa Gourigon.

Between 1995 and 1996 the belvedere was restored by the Girolamu Cassar School of Masonry and Restoration.

Today, the Belvedere, a beautiful piece of architecture, serves as a traffic Island and forms part of the heritage in Lija.

11/02/2023

During the early 19th century, Malta was experiencing a famine, and it had become a tradition to gather 8-to-15-year-old boys from the working classes of Valletta and the Three Cities to participate in a procession during the last few days of carnival. After the procession, they would attend Mass, and they would be given some bread. Its main aim was to keep children out of the riots and confusion of carnival. 

On 11 February 1823, children were gathered and attended mass in Floriana, but the ceremony lasted an hour longer than usual. The children's procession to the convent in Valletta occurred at the same time as the carnival celebrations had ended, so they met with many people who were returning home. At this point, some adults and children from the crowd mixed in with the boys in order to receive free bread which was being distributed.

The boys entered one of the convent's corridors from the vestry door in the church, and were to be let out through another door on St. Ursula Street. The bread was to be distributed at the latter door. Although the vestry door was usually locked to prevent boys from reentering to receive more bread, this time the door was left open since the boys were late. Due to this, more men and boys entered without anyone realizing.

Those who had entered began to push the boys queuing in the corridor, who were shoved to the end of the corridor near a half-open door. At this point, a lamp went out leaving the corridor in darkness, and the people inside began to push forward even more. The boys at the front fell down a flight of steps, blocking the door in the process.

Those who were distributing the bread as well as some neighbours rushed to assist the children after they heard screams. They managed to open the doors, and many boys got out and were revived. However, a number of boys had already died due to suffocation or being trampled upon.

The exact number of casualties is not known, however it is estimated that around 110 boys lost their lives.

#1823

02/02/2023

Did you know that this area in Vittoriosa is known as Fejn Sabu S- Sinjur (where Our Lord was found)?

This is the result of an unhappy event which happened nearly two centuries ago. During the night between 18 - 19 October 1837, a ciborium with consecrated hosts was stolen from the Church of St Theresa, situated a few metres down the road. The Maltese were appalled by such a sacrilegious act and prayers of reparation were invoked in all churches.

Two days later, the ciborium was found in a crevice in the fortifications below the gate by a group of children playing nearby. Only the golden cross on top of the ciborium's lid was missing.

Some days later, the perpetrator, a certain Paul Galea from Mosta, was apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment. While serving sentence, he was murdered by a fellow prisoner.

As a Thanksgiving for the find without any hosts missing, the Theresian Friars built a small chapel at the spot where the ciborium was found. This can be seen in the garden below the gate.

01/02/2023

Casa Perellos is an 18th Century baroque townhouse in Zejtun.  It was built as a private country residence for the then Grand Master of the Order of St John Ramon Perellos y Rocafull.

The residence is found in a prominent street leading to St Catherine's Old Church(also known as St Gregory's Church). This location was chosen in order for the Grand Master to watch the end of the procession during St. Gregory’s feast from his balcony.

In 1922, Pharmacist Vincent (Ċensinu) Caruana from Żejtun, who lived in Casa Perellos, obtained a warrant to practise pharmacy and opened the "Perellos Pharmacy" in his own house. Ċensinu passed away in 1927 and the pharmacy was taken over by Dr Blanche Humber, Ċensinu's sister - in - law and Malta’s first female doctor. Dr. Blance Huber was also the first known female medical student in Malta, and graduated as a doctor from the University of Malta in 1925, having enrolled in 1919.

The property suffered extensive damage during World War II. It was then abandoned and fell in severe neglect.

Refurbishment works by AP Valletta restored the building to its former splendour . Refurbishments began in 2001 and the project was completed in 2005. These included the complete restoration of the structure and the redecoration of the interiors. The original spaces and rooms were recreated with minimum intervention. At the rear, however, two new lateral wings built of glass and steel were built. The new wings house a kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. The courtyard and garden act as a central living room for the palazzo, while the axis of the entrance and hallway, leads to a small fountain and a basin surmounted by the Grand Master's coat-of-arms. During refurbishment works, a rock cut air-raid shelter was uncovered.

It is now a private residence and not open to the public.

30/01/2023

In between Żabbar and Marsascala, in an area known as Bidni, an intriguing monument known as the Monument of the Three Crosses can be found.

In 1615, Żabbar together with Marsaskala, still formed part of the parish of Żejtun. A mere 650 people inhabited Żabbar and they begged the bishop to establish Żabbar as a separate and independent parish. The bishop acceded to their request and Rev. Angelo Pontremoli was appointed parish priest of the new parish of Żabbar.

As was the practice, Bishop Cagliares established the limits of the young parish. A section of modern Marsaskala remained within the limits of Żejtun, while another part, which included the area where the first parish church of Marsaskala was built, fell within the limits of Żabbar. It is possible that the Three Crosses at Bidni were put up as an indication of where the limits of Żejtun and Żabbar met, leading to the formation of the Marsaskala Parish.

Another possible version regarding the origin of the crosses, relates to three monks killed by the Ottomans and buried there.

24/01/2023

The Seashell House (Id - Dar Tal - Bebbux in Maltese) is a historical landmark in Hal - Ghaxaq. In 1898, the house was decorated with hundreds of snails and seashells.

Indri Dimech, the then owner of the house, occasionally worked as a sailor and collected shells from local and foreign beaches. In less than two years, Indri used the collected shells to decorate the façade of his house.

The house is located a couple of meters away from the Parish Church, which is why the majority of the decorative motifs are religious.

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20/01/2023

Madliena Tower was built by the Knights of St John in 1658 as the fourth out of thirteen De Redin towers, near the site of a medieval watch post.

Around 1741, a fougasse (an improvised mortar constructed by making a hollow in the ground and filling it with explosives), was dug in the rocks close to the tower. An entrenchment was also built in the vicinity of the tower in the 18th century, but very little remains of this have survived.

After the British gained control of Malta, Madliena Tower was modified to perform a coastal defence role. A Night Practice Battery housing two QF 12-pounder guns was built in 1908, with the range finder mounted on the tower's roof along with two store rooms to serve as ammunition magazines.

In 1935 a Defence Electric Light (searchlight) emplacement was installed. During World War II, a concrete Beach gun emplacement was installed.

Today, the tower is used by the Armed Forces of Malta. A Red Signal Flag is raised as a warning of live fire exercises at the nearby shooting ranges.

09/01/2023

Cavalier Tower (also known as Captain's Tower and Ellul Preziosi Tower) in Qrendi, is one of the oldest surviving towers in Malta. It formerly housed the captain of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Sadly, no records exist on the date of construction of Cavalier Tower. Some historians believe that it was possibly built in the late medieval period, when Malta was still part of the Kingdom of Sicily. Others believe that the tower was built in the 16th or 17th centuries by the Order of Saint John.

The tower has an octagonal plan, and it is the only one in Malta with such a design. It is three stories high, and it has cordons between each floor. The tower's main entrance is located in an adjacent medieval residence, which was originally a mill room or a chapel.

Eight-drop balconies flank the respective sides on the tower’s roof. From these balconies, it is believed that its defenders could throw boulders and hot oil down onto any unwelcome attackers.

In the early 20th century, an underground shelter was excavated beneath the property to be used during World War II.
Also adjacent to the tower are a number of rooms and animal manger, fashioned and constructed around a central courtyard providing a better defense and comfort to the tower’s inhabitants. An external stone stairway leads from close to a well within this central courtyard up to one of the room’s roofs, from which one can gain access into the towers first floor.

Today, Cavalier Tower is in good condition. It is a privately owned residence and is not open to the public.

06/01/2023

The Chapel of the German Langue at St John's Co-Cathedral is dedicated to the epiphany of Christ.

The alter piece, The Adoration of the Magi, was done by Maltese painter Stefano Erardi.

05/01/2023

Notre Dame Gate was built in 1675 as part of the Cottonera Lines (a line of fortifications protecting the Three Cities; Vittoriosa, Cospicua, Senglea).

It is situated at the highest point of the Cottonera area, and its roof was used to relay signals between Valletta and the coastal defences on the eastern part of Malta.

The gate served as an adjunct to the Cottonera Military Hospital following its construction in 1870. Many wounded soldiers were accommodated within the gate during World War I.

The gate was damaged by aerial bombardment during World War II, when one of the adjacent barrack blocks received a direct hit.

In the early 21st century, the Notre Dame Gate was passed to the Malta Heritage Trust, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, who moved their main offices into the upper part of the gate in late 2005. The foundation has since carried out a number of restoration works to parts of the gate.

The Notre Dame Gate is built in the Baroque style, and has five levels. It includes underground chambers, two barrack blocks, and a superstructure consisting of a gatehouse built on two levels, a veranda and a signalling top. The monumental façade is decorated with Corinthian pilasters, and it has a panel with a trophy of arms surrounding a bronze bust of Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner. During the French occupation of Malta, the bust was taken by the French as spoils of war, but it was returned to Malta by the British.

03/01/2023

Cospicua (Bormla in Maltese) is so underrated!!