Scents of Spring

As winter slides gently into spring, the light changes perceptibly, the air is suddenly full of hope and gardens seem brimming with promise. Awakening from their long winter sleep, Valletta’s gardens will soon be at their best, stirring shades of green interspersed with colourful flowers and the gentle stone of sculptures, paths and monuments.

Located close to Castille Palace, The Upper Barrakka gardens offer breathtaking panoramic views of the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities. The garden was constructed in 1661 as a private recreational space for the Knights of the Langue of Italy and became public in 1824. Typified by its majestic arcading which indicates how it was once a roofed garden, the “Barrakka” is today home to an impressive number of monumental busts, plaques and statues, the largest being a neo-classical truncated column erected in the memory of Clement Martin Edwards, secretary to Lord Maitland. Here you can also come across Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino’s Les Gavroches, an early 20th century bronze which represents the hardship of the poor as well as the Sir Henry Hotham monument.

Photo by Rene Rossignaud

The Gardens were recently handed over to Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna (Malta Heritage Trust) in the biggest state property handover ever, and will eventually be turned into a heritage park.
Situated exactly beneath the Upper Barrakka Gardens, the Lower Barrakka overlooks the entrance to the Grand Harbour and affords a closer look at the creeks of Kalkara and Vittoriosa with Fort Ricasoli and Fort St Angelo fortifications towering over them.

A tempietto built in the neo-classical style is dedicated to Sir Alexander Ball who eventually became Malta’s first British Governor in 1800. Today its Saluting Battery is still active and fires resounding shots at noon on a daily basis.

Some ghostly connections are linked to the sound of screams which are said to emanate from these gardens. These are romantically connected to the souls of besieged Knights who were decapitated by the Ottoman Turks during the Siege of Malta of 1565 and whose heads were left to float down towards St Angelo in order to frighten other Knights away.

Situated on the Valletta bastions, Hastings Garden affords extensive views of Manoel Island and Msida Creek across the Grand Harbour. The garden is also the final resting place of Lord Hastings, a Governor of Malta during British Rule. His family had chosen to bury him on the island after he died en route to Naples in 1827.

Originally called the Msida bastion Cemetery and lying on the outskirts of Valletta, the Garden of Rest is the first British Protestant Cemetery on Malta, constructed upon the arrival of the British in Malta. Due to extensive World War II damage, the garden required lengthy restorations which stretched over a decade-long period.

The site was awarded the 2002 Silver Medal – Europa Nostra and today, apart from being open to the general public, also houses the Museum of Maltese Burial Practices. The Garden of Rest is virtually an open air showcase of neoclassical monuments which the British residence on Malta dedicated to their departed. The father of the Maltese language, writer and linguist Mikiel Anton Vassalli, also lies buried here. The garden is the responsibility of Din l-Art Helwa (Malta National Trust) and a team of volunteers who do constant maintenance and gardening work on the site.

Also in Floriana, the Argotti Gardens were opened during the 18th century and originally served as one of Grand Master Pinto’s private gardens. Today the site of the gardens which were taken over by civil government in 1903 overlooks Msida creek, part of Marsamxetto Harbour, and the modern yacht marina.

The British eventually transformed the garden into a typical 19th century botanical garden, decorating it with a varied collection of plants and trees. These include several oaks, oleanders, cacti, and various other types of vegetation. The collection is still present today with a private area tended by the University of Malta which houses indigenous and foreign plants. A museum contains horticultural equipment and records.

A Spring Fete will be held at the Garden of Rest on 29 March between 10.00 and 15.00.