PA grants Villa St Ignatius Grade 2 protection, despite approved hotel permit

The authority said the scheduling is part of its commitment to preserve cultural treasures

December 20, 2024| Times of Malta |143 min read
A scheduling request to protect Villa St Ignatius has been pending since 2017. Photo: Planning Authority A scheduling request to protect Villa St Ignatius has been pending since 2017. Photo: Planning Authority

The Planning Authority has granted Grade 2 protection status to Villa St Ignatius, despite approving a planning permit to convert the property into a four-star hotel

In a statement on Friday, the PA said that following the considerable public scrutiny the 19th-century building has come under, the Grade 2 designation means that its historical, architectural and cultural significance for future generations. 

In June, the PA granted a permit for the property to be developed into a hotel after the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage back-pedalled on its position that it should be scheduled rather than developed, having previously called on the PA to reject development there. 

A request for the villa’s scheduling has been pending since 2017. 

Villa St Ignatius was built in the 1820s by British merchant John Watson, a prominent tradesman, who selected the prime site in Balluta and surrounded the elegant residence with extensive gardens, stables, fields and other ancillary structures. 

The villa may be one of the earliest examples of Gothic revival architecture in Malta, with distinguishing architectural features including crenellated rooftops and pointed Gothic-style arches. It was also originally painted a bright red ochre and fitted with white trims - an aesthetic which still survives in some sections of the building today. 

The PA said that the scheduling will highlight the building’s importance as part of Malta’s built heritage and the architectural landscape of the Sliema and St Julian’s area, it being one of the oldest surviving buildings in the area. 

It said the approval of the hotel permit will breathe new life into the building. 

“The scheduling of this property comes at a time when the Planning Authority is marking

30 years of safeguarding historic structures across the islands, from prestigious residences like this Villa to diverse structures including religious and modern buildings, military fortifications and industrial structures,” they said.

“The Planning Authority’s celebration of this milestone reaffirms its ongoing commitment to Malta’s architectural legacy and heritage conservation, ensuring these cultural treasures endure for generations to come.”

The building has been making headlines since 2017, with heritage activists making the case for its protection from before development loomed. 

It further captured imagination when workers were filmed hacking away at the landmark, knocking down wood and dismantling masonry with impunity. 

In 1846, the villa was purchased by the English Missionary Association who converted the villa into a Protestant college, and in 1872 the property was converted into a Jesuit College.

The church adjacent to the villa, dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola which is scheduled as Grade 1 building, was completed in 1881. The college closed in July 1907, and the site was then used as a military hospital during the First World War, known as St Ignatius Hospital. Following the end of the war, the hospital closed down. Thereafter, for a short period of time, the site was used to house Russian refugees fleeing the Russian Revolution before being divided into tenements. 

By the 1970s the entire area surrounding the villa had been built up with numerous apartment blocks.

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