Malta and Gozo have relentlessly undermined their almost unique windmill heritage.

There was a time when the islands boasted probably the highest concentration of windmills in the whole of Europe. One estimate lists about 70, crowding a very restricted land mass.

The Liebig Oxo meat extract from 1871 came packed with sets of cards in various languages. This one shows a gunpowder windmill in Malta.

Most of them were demolished, repurposed or left to decay, some substituted in the British period by steam-powered mills. Today, only a handful survive. They exemplified a viable source of renewable, non-polluting energy.

Ta' Ganu windmill in Birkirkara. c. 1900

In Malta’s generally flat topography, windmills also represented landmarks. On the Marsa­muxxetto side, they relieved Valletta’s rather monotonous profile.

Only a forgettable street name somehow preserved their memory – Strada molini a vento.

One of the Order's windmills prominent on the Marsamuxxetto side of Valletta, c. 1890

A few wheat windmills dotted other European countries very sparsely but as an exception rather than a rule.

In the Netherlands, windmills serve almost exclusively as water pumps. In Malta, the Knights of St John harnessed wind power mostly to grind wheat.

Gozo photographer Mikiel Farrugia, il-Badiku, marketed this postcard c.1905.

During the era of Grand Master Pinto, the architect Andrea Belli attempted to use Maltese windmills to power stone and wood-cutting machines but his technology failed.

The Order of Malta claimed an exclusive monopoly on windmills, projecting them as social services provided by the state.

That accounts for the Hospitaller coats of arms displayed prominently on many of their facades, to advertise the munificence of the Prince Grand Master and his care for the welfare of his subjects.

A 1960s postcard of the Xagħra, Gozo windmill, by the Import and Export Company

An early postcard of a windmill issued by the firm Hermen & Co.

British rule reversed this state monopoly, leaving anyone free to construct mills.

A few of the newer ones sported heraldic adornments.

A charming view of a Gozo windmill seen through the archway on the road from Victoria to Għarb, c. 1900.

The Stengel company from Dresden issued this postcard of the Order's gunpowder windmill on St Michael's bastion over Marsamxett, postally used in 1906.

After a century of almost total neglect, our few surviving windmills have started attracting the attention of heritage conservationists.

Good rehabilitation is giving new life and dignity to an almost unique patrimony that faced the dangers of self-imposed extinction.

All photos from the author’s collections.

Possibly from the very earliest set of Maltese postcards, printed in blue, but postally used in 1900.