Triton Fountian, recently restored and inaugurated (January 2018)
Artistic designer Vincent Apap planned it around concentric circles and perfect symmetry.
3 huge bronze statues of the "Sea Giants"
were casted a foundery in northern Italy.
"....His list of public monuments in Malta is outstanding: the Triton Fountain at City Gate, Valletta (1959); the bust of Dr.Enrico Mizzi at St John’s Square, Valletta (1964), Dante Alighieri at Floriana (1965), Mgr.Gonzi at Mdina Cathedral (1971), Sir Paul Boffa at Castile Place in Valletta (1976), and Dr. Giorgio Borg Olivier at Castile Place, Valletta (1990). Other public momuments and statues included a bust of Giuseppe Calì at the Society of Arts Valletta (1955), a bust of Joseph Calleja (1959), the statue of St. Joseph at Tarġa Gap (1965), a titular statue of St Mary at Mosta Church (1947), Mater Admirabilis at Tal-Virtu (1954), and the titular statue of St Augustine in Valletta (1973). He also made a statue of Bishop Pace for St George’s Basilica in Gozo."
More info: Vincent Apap - http://www.m3p.com.mt/wiki/Vincent_Apap
A Secret Garden in Floriana
Walking uphill from Sa Mason imposing bastions you
come accross a relatively unspotable quiet garden set deeply within the floriana bastion walls and looking over the Marsamxett magnficant habour.
Walking through it at first looks like anyother typical maltese medival garden however the deeper one goes the more you can discover. Different garden levels, a disused lion-headed fountain, a huge arch opening in the bastions, huge bastions walls, a "gardjola" (medival watch-tower) set high above the garden and spectacular port-views and the most magical of all....18th century stone-wall carvings!
Yes, carvings in the bastion walls aparently carved by bored British colonial miltary soldiers stationed there on duty during long summer nights.
Some have eroded away by time as the Maltese softlime stone gets eroded by rain and strong desert winds coming from North Africa.
Situated only around 20min walk from the local floriana parish church direction towards Msida via the Police HQ and not to be confused with Argotti Garden*.
The garden, badly needs some TLC, in my opin on, but still worth a visit while on holiday in Malta.
The garden is gated and the keeper closes the gates at 7pm.
*Argotti Garden is a botanical garden also in the area.
Floriana
Floriana is a small town on the doorstep of our capital city - Valletta.
The first construction of the Floriana Lines - the line of fortifications outside Valletta started to be built in 1636 by the Italian military engineer Pietro Paolo Floriani. The fortifications were completed in the 1720s. The town initially called Borgo Vilhena after the Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena started to be built in 1724. However it was later called Floriana - 'Il Furjana' in Maltese.
Floriana was built around the 16th century with many gardens and monuments like Biskutin gardens, Argotti botanical Gardens and Sa Mason Gardens. Popular monuments such as Independance monument, The Triton, Dun karm, Grandmaster DeVilhena, Dante and various other important Maltese personalities adorn this small town.
There are numerous gardens in Floriana such as Sa Maison Gardens, which overlook the impressive Marsamxett Harbour, built by the Grandmaster de Paul (1636) later revisited in 1853 by the British Military who used its vantage position for defence purposes and left interesting evidence of their presence by sculpting various coats of arms in the rock face of the bastions. Floriana also houses the Argotti Garden where Ghanafest and the wine festival are hosted, the garden of Rest used for open air films in summer and many more.
The graneries or 'fosos' as known in Maltese are just a stone's throw away from 8floriana. It is a wide open space that is now used for concerts such as Isle of MTV, Joseph Calleja Opera Concert and the National Ground-Fireworks Festival. The graneries are underground silos or 'fossos' consisting of bell-shaped reservoirs covered up with a huge stone cap fastened with mortar. Wheat was placed in each silo. A single grain storage pit could keep around 60 to 80 tons of wheat. If properly taken care of the wheat would last for four years or more. There are 76 flat stone caps with lids where the grain used to be kept in Publius Square (The Graneries) which are found across from the Parish Church. These graneries were initially constructed by the Grand Master Marino de Redin from 1657 to 1660.
Cat Villages in Malta
Various small community cat villages are spread around the island.
The caring resdents supply food left overs but some actually buy them canned cat food. The constant supply of food and fresh water by caring neighbours and tourists....especially in the hot summer months makes them more loyal to the spot.
Japanese tourists have notibly been around asing for these villages and have posted several photos online on Travel blogs.
Cat enthusiasts adorn these villages with cusions blankets and wooden shelters which are most of the time very calourful.
Old ladies can be noted at various times of the day coming out of thier houses to feed the cats.
Miao, What else could a Maltese cat ask for? .....Food, water and a cosy shelter!!
Popular spots as examples are St Julians, Floriana, Gzira and Valletta. in St.Julians one can find two Cat monuments
Monument photo by:Maryte Collard http://marytequilts.eu/2016/06/cats-in-malta/