Open day at Msida Bastion Garden of Repose

Din l-Art Helwa is holding an open day for the public at the Msida Bastion Garden of Repose, on Sunday from 11.30 a.m.

DLH volunteers are organising guided tours and talks in English will be held hourly from noon with the last talk at 3 p.m.

The garden is best reached turning into Sir Hannibal Scicluna Road which is the second left hand turn off Great Siege Road below the public library and by then taking the left hand fork on the way down to the bastions.

Story boards displaying images of the garden before restoration will give an appreciation to the visitor of the dilapidated state it was in before DLH began its work in 1991. Guide books to the history of the garden and its historic burial ground will be on sale. Tours will be free of charge but donations will assist the heritage NGO to continue with its project.

The rehabilitation project by DLH of the Msida Bastion Garden of Rest has recently been awarded a prestigious Medal of Honour by Europa Nostra and the President of Malta, Professor Guido de Marco will shortly be presenting the medal to the volunteer NGO in the local celebration of the award.

This early burial ground and well developed garden contains important neo-classical monuments that are rare examples of British funerary art seldom found in the Mediterranean. It is located in the heart of the 17th century fortifications between Valletta and Floriana which were built by the knights of St John as outer defences of Valletta.

Used from 1806 to 1857, the Msida Bastion cemetery was well looked after until the beginning of the 20th century. In the Second World War it was hit by a German bomb and became derelict as the years passed. Most of its fine monuments, tombs and headstones were looted, vandalised, and suffered the erosion of time. By the time the restoration team began its work, the place was a complete wreck, overgrown by innumerable trees.

Some 20,000 marble fragments originating from headstones and lead letters from the tablets were collected, identified and recorded before being organised according to the original layout of the cemetery.

More than 100 monuments were restored as was the fine stately garden.

A distinctive feature of this remarkable restoration work is that it has been undertaken with great love and patience over a considerable number of years, by volunteers who mostly worked with bare hands sometimes under difficult conditions.

The cemetery will also form part of a heritage trail through the outer fortifications of Valletta linking with other historic gardens at Argotti and at Sa Maison, while the small museum planned by DLH will serve as a visitor`s information centre housing artefacts and memorabilia.