Tuesday we ventured to Naxxar, one of the oldest towns in Malta. It blends the old with the new. While recent developments have modernized parts of this town, it retains its charming narrow streets. These alleys showcase traditional architecture and offer a genuine taste of Malta’s rich heritage.
It’s draw for us was a visit to a luxurious historical villa, Palazzo Parisio. We visited one of these villa, Casa Rocca Piccola, in Valletta and enjoyed it very much, so I thought visiting another villa would be fun.
We boarded a bus to Naxxar right outside our apartment. One of the reasons we like our apartment is its location near bus stops in both directions. Although this is a very noisy area, we have learned to live with it, although, loud car mufflers, revving motorcycles and lots of cars peeling out makes me curse at lot. I really think Sliema needs a noise ordinance. In 2016 I wrote to the Sliema Council to complain but never received a reply. Oh well, we just have to endure.
One of the fun things about the bus is that, as it fills up and people are standing together, conversations with strangers abound. When there are a lot of tourists, we often compare notes about places and talk about where we’re headed. We always talk with someone. The other nice thing, now that we’re old, is that people let us sit down. Every bus we’ve been on, we’ve been offered seats by nice people who then stand the rest of their trip. The lady sitting next to Christine was Maltese and was getting off at the same stop in Naxxar. She gave us some tips about Naxxar and agreed that Palazzo Parision was definitely worth a visit.
Typical of most Maltese towns, Naxxar has a gigantic parish church right in the center of the oldest section. Unfortunately, the church wasn’t open, but it was an impressive church just from the outside.
The Palazzo Parisio doesn’t look like much from the outside. It’s directly across a narrow street from the church.
The palace was built by one of the Grand Masters of the Knights of St. John in 1733. Shortly after, it became the home of a Sicilian nobleman named Parisio, hence the name. This palace was his weekend home as he had another Palazzo Parisio in Valletta which is now the home of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Scicluna family then became the owners and starting in 1898 the Marquis Scicluna began renovating and glitzing up the place. The Scicluna’s were bankers and their private bank was the first bank to issue checks in Malta. The Scicluna’s were also responsible for building the Dragonara Palace as their summer home, now the casino we can see out on the point from our balcony.
The marble in the palace is very beautiful and comes from Italy as does the glass for most of the lighting. Murano glass is very expensive and one of the most sought after for beautiful decorative glass. One story is about the marble piece going up the staircase. It is one long piece of pure white marble and is the longest in Malta. It took 3 tries to get the piece from Italy to Naxxar. The first time it was shipwrecked. The second time as workers were carrying it into the house they dropped it and it broke in half. The third time the British artillery were called in to insure the transport with the help of forty mules. The third time was a charm.
There was a long landing at the top of the stairs flanked by suits of armor. Off to the left was a lovely portico porch overlooking the garden.
Then the Red Room.
Our favorite room was the dining room. It is painted in the Pompeiian style and two large paintings symbolize Neapolitan life.
The bedroom is the only sleeping quarters in the palace. I guess they didn’t want any overnight guests! They did have a little side room for a nursery, though. All the furniture in the bedroom was hand carved and imported from Milan.
Off the bedroom was a small chapel. Not many families were granted the privilege of establishing a private chapel in the home although the concession could sometimes be easier to obtain. It just so happens that the Marquis’s uncle was a priest, and voila, a private chapel.
The Marquis’s study contained a nice large desk and a photograph of the Dragonara Palace, their summer home.
There was a ladies music room, all golden,that was really beautiful. Workers were setting up for some event in the ballroom, so the photos show equipment and stuff.
The ballroom was really eye-popping. Although rather small for a ballroom, it was full of gold finishing, and the chandeliers were fabulous.
Then on to the gardens. The palace had 3 different gardens in the past, but one is being rented out to an organization. It was lovely strolling around the gardens as much of it was in shade. It was still quite windy so the trees, shrubs and flowers were dancing. We love gardens!
We decided to have lunch on the terrace at the palazzo. It was a lovely setting, but it was rather chilly with the wind. As we were waiting for our meals to arrive, the server brought us each a blanket, which was very welcomed. We enjoyed our lunch and savored being at the palazzo.
On our way to the bus stop we walked up and down some of the old streets in Naxxar. One gets the feeling of old Malta from this section of Naxxar.
We arrived at the bus stop expecting to board the 202 bus back to Sliema. It was full and didn’t stop. A couple of buses going to Valletta came by and were not full. I decided that we should get on the next Valletta bus, which we did. It went all over the place, but we did see the huge Mater Dei medical campus and we went through some industrial parks.
By now it’s after 4:00 pm and the traffic is just horrible. It was taking forever to get to the next stop. Malta has lots of rotaries and getting through them is awful. I haven’t yet figured out what the rules of the road are because sometimes cars in the rotary just stop to let those trying to get into the rotary pass, but often they don’t. The bus was very herky jerky with all the stopping and starting in traffic. Christine wasn’t very happy because a 30 minute bus ride turned into a 90 minute fiasco. She suggested we get off in Msida and walk to Sliema. I should have listened.
The bus terminal in Valletta where we needed to change buses was very crowded. Our bus came and it was sardine can time. I can’t believe how many people squeeze into the bus. With the traffic, another 30 minute trip because nearly 2 hours. Ugh! Note to self – never take the bus during rush hour.
We finally made it home and we were glad to be there. We had a light meal and kind of crashed afterward. Visiting Palazzo Parisio was great! The trip home was not. But, we saw another place that we had not visited in the past. There are still many more places I have in mind to visit.