When freelance researcher Steve Mallia was approached by the Floriana local council to work on a project on a school well, the last thing he thought he would find was the locality’s largest shelter.

Spanning from the Floriana primary school to the end of the granaries, the shelter had not been accessed for six to seven decades.

“We found it by pure chance and coincidence,” said Mallia, who specialises in Maltese reservoirs.

Working underground on the project a few weeks ago, he first noticed markings on a wall that looked like the entrance to a shelter.  After asking permission from the council, he reopened the entrance and was amazed at the discovery. 

“Thousands of people pass through Floriana every day, and no one has any idea about the world that exists below them,” he said of what the Department of Public Works calls the largest shelter in Floriana. 

A few days later, he was joined by Conrad Neil Gatt, a photographer and amateur historian, who filmed their experience traversing the shelter for his YouTube channel.

As they entered the shelter, they found stairs and a long, narrow passageway with a series of small wall shrines, stalagmites and stalactites. 

They came across multiple wall carvings dating to World War II, old Portanier Trufruit bottles and a room painted black. 

As they entered the shelter, they found stairs and a long, narrow passageway with a series of small wall shrines, stalagmites and stalactites

Gatt in the shelter. Photo: Steve Mallia

“It was painted with black tar to help lower the humidity because this room was used by the church to store some of their most precious items during the war because St Publius church was heavily bombed,” Mallia explained.

The shelter also has a rarely seen feature – it is split into two levels. 

Mallia said: “I have been inside hundreds of shelters, but I have never seen one like this.” 

As they traversed the lower level, which would also have been used to shelter people in the war, they found around 70-80cm of water in some sections.

“Because of special confined spaces like that, you always need to bring a gas detector and, most importantly, a friend. When I enter a shelter, I want to keep going until I reach the end and hit a wall. It can be dangerous, but I will take that risk.”

The shelter has 30 rooms and can accommodate around 400 people. However, Mallia believes it could hold another 400 in the lower level as well. 

Mallia and Gatt hope the shelter will be cleaned and restored so people can access it at least once a year, an ambition endorsed by Floriana mayor Vince Borg. 

Borg said the shelter still needs to be cleaned and safety checks carried out. Still, if everything goes according to plan, he would like to see it open for the public this coming October in time for the council event Ġenna ta’ Ġonna, a yearly open day in Floriana for people to enjoy and appreciate their public gardens and cultural heritage.

Gatt and stalactites. Photo: cngfotography