Pinto Clock, overlooking one of the two internal courtyards at the Grand Masters’ Palace, in Valletta, is fully functional again after being silent for six long years.

Parts of the clock had been developing faults and going out of order over the past 60 years until the timepiece stopped working altogether.

The façade, the clock mechanism, the bells and jacquemarts making up the turret clock have been restored to their former glory at a cost of €120,000.

The job, which started in April last year, was carried out by private contractors under the direction and supervision of experts from the rehabilitation projects office of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs and Heritage Malta. Works on the timber structures, fountain and rear turret were executed by personnel from the restoration directorate.

The birdcage clock mechanism, believed to be the work of Gaetano Vella, bears the crescent moon at its top corners, recalling Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca’s coat of arms.

In 1894, Maltese clockmaker Michelangelo Sapiano modified the original movement not to disturb Governor Sir Arthur Fremantle’s (1894-1898) slumber.

The clock carries four copper-laminated figures representing Moorish slaves holding hammers, which they sling sideways when striking the bells. The two in the middle of the scene are considerably larger than those at the sides.

A similarity to domestic clocks is the use of hemispherical bells instead of the conventional cup-shaped. Their profile renders them less sonorous but very distinctive. Only eight other nested bells are found on the islands.

The clock’s limestone façade is adorned by an overlapping of pilasters and arches distinguished by their proportions and characteristic profiles and details, meant to support a triumphant finial on which are displayed the four clock faces crowned by the jacks of the clock and the nested hemispherical bells.

The anima of the four jacqemarts is hewn out of conifer wood and covered with embossed copper sheets.

The hemispherical bells are supported by carved timber poles, two of which were replaced in 1869, while the remaining prop was reproduced in the 1970s.

The wooden sheltering at the rear of the jacquemarts was erected during the British period to protect the mechanism from weather damage and to fly Great Britain’s flag up high.

Pinto’s Clock, as it is known, has four dials. The middle one shows the hour and the others show the month, day and lunar phase. It is located in one of the courtyards of the Valletta Palace close to the office of the Attorney General, an area that is open to tourists who often snap photos of the clock. It strikes on the hour and every 15 minutes.

The clock tower will be open to the public tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations can be made by e-mail at rpo.mrra@gov.mt.