At the heart of our capital city lies a baffling example of how, as a nation, we can abandon our history and our heritage to the worst state of neglect.
We are left with the historic fountain disfigured by concrete- Sandro Rossi, Birkirkara
One of the oldest surviving pieces of urban architecture, Il-Biċċerija, has been left to rot into a dangerous dark spot. It never was downtown, either of the Knights’ cosmopolitan Valletta, or of the British colonial Mediterranean melting pot.
It was one of those areas, known as Il-Kontinenti by Valletta residents, teeming with life and energy. After World War II, when birth rates were still high and infant mortality fell due to advances in medicine, there were pressures on Valletta’s residential areas.
The small housing units had to sustain families with six or seven children, living in two rooms without sanitary facilities.
This was the story of the Paġġaturi, the parallel rows of ‘studio apartments’ tucked just behind the Auberge de Baviere within the area. Until the late 1980s these were still occupied, mainly by social housing tenants.
Long forgotten are the big families reciting the rosary under the Madonna in Bull Street, or the budding footballers dribbling under the Tal-Karmnu statue in Old Mint Street. We are left with the historic fountain disfigured by concrete, deffun ceilings caving in, and four majestic chimneys slowly eroding in the harbour’s salty winds.
Recently we heard of a concrete regeneration exercise aimed at giving a new life to the whole area. As with rehabilitation in any setting, the changes will give a new functional identity.
Il-Biċċerija will be different from what it has always been. The rooms will not house families, but the cells of civic society. They can offer the space for a social and cultural activity aimed at giving back life to this area. The organisations will benefit from a unique and privileged setting. Full of history and still authentic, it offers a unique ambience for creativity.
Close to the national theatre, churches and palaces, the humble rooms of Il-Biċċerija are the gateway to Il-Fossa – that special window on the spectacle of the Mediterranean. Il-Fossa, another hidden gem in Valletta’s crown, is waiting its turn to be polished and admired by us and all.