It's probably one of the least known facts about Verdala Palace but most of the mulberry trees in Buskett and the surrounding countryside were planted to provide the raw material for a silk factory at the palace in the early 19th century.
This is one of the intriguing facets about this palace, which stands higher than Mdina and which will be open to the public the coming weekend to raise money for the Malta Community Chest Fund.
An earlier attempt at establishing a silk industry was made during the reign of Grandmaster Manoel Pinto.
Writing about a journal kept by the First Duke of Buckingham and Chandos' on his visit to Malta in 1828 (Melita Historica, 13 (2002)3(285-311), historian Donald Sultana notes the Duke's visit to the silk factory.
"... Thousands of mulberry trees had been planted for the growth of silk worms, hundreds of which were also being given to such peasants and people as had mulberry trees or the means of raising them..."
High hopes were being entertained in the silk industry's coming to rival, if not excel in quality, that of the south of France.
But even though the expectations with regard to quality were met, the factory was not commercially viable and was abandoned 10 years after the Duke's visit.
Heritage Malta Senior Curator, Arts and Palaces, Sandro Debono said the silk factory was meant to provide jobs to mitigate poverty.
"The cholera outbreak of 1813 hit the economy badly as fields of cotton were burned to curb the spread of the epidemic. Seaports were closed and the cotton industry was facing tough competition from Egyptian growers", Mr Debono said.
The palace had been built by the French knight Fra Hughes de Loubens de Verdalle whose reign lasted between 1582-1595. The palace, which was Verdala's summer residence, overlooks a fertile valley, which he ordered to be planted with trees.
Buskett was stocked with deer to provide venison for the Grandmaster's kitchen and sport for his friends.
In his book, 500 Hundred Years of Architecture in Malta, Leonard Mahoney quotes Gio. Francesco Abela who in 1647 wrote that one enters the building over a drawbridge, as a dry moat surrounds its basement...
"The entrance lobby, the great vaulted hall and the accompanying rooms are embellished with frescoes mostly of the celebrated and ingenious Florentine painter Filippo Paladini". These paintings were restored recently.
Verdala's name is recalled in the inscription above the main door, which translated reads: Let dew and rain fall on Mount Verdala, 1586.
Over the door to the great hall which is decorated with the principal episodes in Verdala's life, runs the legend Cedant Curae Loco: Let cares surrender to the place.
At the back of the moat is a courtyard providing riding ground for over 25 horses and dwellings for the servants together with a chapel dedicated to St Anthony the Abbott.
The palace is the official summer residence of the President, whose office runs the Community Chest Fund. The opening hours are Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entrance will be against a donation of €4 for each adult while children accompanied by an adult enter for free. In order to avoid queuing up, one can get tickets against the donation from the President's Palace in Valletta, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays.
Factbox
Designed by Ġlormu Cassar, Verdala Palace, a fortified structure to defend against Turkish incursions, replaced a hunting lodge built by Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette. The rock quarried to form the ditch was used to build the palace.
Grandmasters Jean De Lascaris Castellar (1636-1657) and Manoel de Vilhena (1722-1736) commissioned most of its embellishment while further improvements were made by British Governors.
The palace fell into decay during the occupation of the island by Napoleonic troops when French soldiers were held prisoner there.
At the beginning of WWII, works housed at the Museum of Arts were transferred to Verdala for safekeeping. In 1945, the palace served as a hospital for patients of infantile paralysis.
More recently visiting heads of state were accommodated at Verdala.