Today we decided to go to Valletta. Eve wanted to try to find a spot to paint, and Christine and I wanted to find the Msida Bastion Garden of Rest. So, off we went on the #13 bus.
Once at the bus terminus, we made our plan for joining back up for lunch and Eve went off down Republic Street to first stop at St. John’s Co-Cathedral. We headed towards the Bastion Gardens, which is really a cemetery. This was what we were looking for when we stumbled upon the Sa Maison Gardens. It’s really right down the street, but on a lower level than Sa Maison.
The Historic Bastion Garden is kept by a group, Din l-Art Helwa, which is a volunteer foundation that, like Heritage Malta, has a prime objective of safeguarding Malta’s cultural heritage and natural environment. I was surprised to learn that Din l-Art Helwa keeps St. Agatha’s Tower, the Red Tower, that I like seeing so much. The organization has several other towers and chapels in their stead.
The earliest memorial found at this non-Catholic cemetery was 1806. Most tombs are of British military personnel, civil servants and merchants, and their families, some of whose descendants are still in Malta. Something is known of 530 people buried in the cemetery. The cemetery was seldom used after 1856, and not at all after 1887. The cemetery was heavily bombed during WWII. This damage, as well as erosion of the soft stone over two hundred years, theft and vandalism had left the site derelict when, in 1988, Din l-Art Helwa together with the Government of Malta and the British High Commission decided to restore tombs where possible, and to open the gardens to the public. The larger memorials are in their original locations. Many other headstones have been saved and are placed along many of the stone walls throughout the gardens.
Although many of the memorials were quite eroded and it was difficult to read the inscriptions, some were readable and were interesting. I found one that struck me as very British, “his bereaved widow erects this pillar in grateful remembrance of his affection and of his worth.” Several of the memorials had the word “worth” included in some fashion. And for my friend Scott, I took a picture of a tomb for the founder of the lodge of St. John and St. Paul at Malta.
This was a really nice place and we really enjoyed walking along the peaceful paths, reading some of the memorials, seeing the lovely colors of the plants and taking in the views of Marsamxett Harbor. We met a couple of the volunteers who were tending the plants. Both were octogenarians, certainly British, and both said it was a lot of work but they loved doing it. We told them how much we appreciated their work and that we were enjoying the garden very much.
After visiting the garden, we decided to head to another garden, Upper Barrakka Garden. It is a very hot day today and we thought we could find some shade and sit for a while. We really didn’t have much energy to do much else because it was so hot.
On the way to Barrakka, we passed by a sculpture near St. Jame’s Cavalier that Christine likes, which was a nice photo op.
Then, as we were rounding Our Lady of Victories Church, Christine noticed that it was open. It hasn’t been open during any of our other Valletta visits, so we stopped in. This church was the first building built by the Knights in Valletta and was the conventional church of the Knights until they built St. John’s Co-Cathedral. Our Lady of Victories is a much more intimate church, as it is not as large as St. John’s. However, it is pretty spectacular with all its artwork.
We then found a little shade on a bench at Barrakka and enjoyed watching the people. There were 2 cruise ships in port today, and so there were lots and lots of tour groups coming into the garden to take in the spectacular view of the Grand Harbor. It was hot and crowded on the promenade, so we mostly enjoyed our shade and people watched.
It neared time to meet Eve for lunch, so we walked to the area around St. John’s and decided where to eat. We were desperate to find some place in the shade and with a breeze. We settled on Kantina’s where we had lunch on an earlier visit. Eve joined us and we had a nice lunch. The food is good and presented in an artistic fashion.
By now, it is mid-afternoon and we’re all ready for a nap, so we returned home. Eve went back to her place and we made plans for dinner, eating in tonight.
Eve returned and we had drinks and Christine and Eve sat out on our little balcony. I made omelets for dinner. It was kind of nice eating in and just hanging out. And so we ended a nice day.