Valletta’s monuments and marble tablets are so common many people walk by without a second thought about the reason behind them.

Each one, however, has a story to tell as they are a lasting memorial of an event or a personality that made a mark in the annals of a nation.

A book, launched yesterday, put all these stories in black on white with the aim of enlightening the readers about the purpose of the monuments.

With a breathtaking title – Valletta, Statues, Niches, Small Churches, Public Fountains, Public Clocks, Monuments And Marble Tablets – the book promises to “fill a void” left by previous publications about Malta’s capital city.

“It is not a replica of what has already been written but perhaps about what should have been written,” author Michael Galea said at the launch at the offices of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry in Valletta yesterday.

A characteristic of Valletta, which in 1988 was declared by Unesco a city of European culture and a World Heritage Site, are the many statues and niches that embellish the streets and alleys.

Monuments and marble tablets, Mr Galea pointed out, were in themselves a tribute to and a public recognition of a particular event or of a national figure. “However, sometimes we take them for granted,” he noted.

The book hopes to make readers more aware of the many monuments that continue to embellish this 16th century city. Some marble tablets record the past, others contemporary history. They are, indeed, another form of writing and transmitting history. The streets of Valletta were very rich in history as the book intended to show, Mr Galea said.