The vanes turned on a centuries-old grain windmill in Naxxar on Saturday, affording onlookers a view not seen by generations.

The historic Tal-Għaqba windmill built in 1710 by the foundation of Grandmaster Perellos was dilapidated and at risk of collapse in 2019 when an extensive €1.5 million restoration project was launched by the locality's local council.

The work on the stonework and the wooden machinery was slow and meticulous, involving substantial research and needing skills that had not been employed for many years.

But the windmill, painted white and blue, is now the only functional one of its type in Malta.

Saturday was the big day as huge cotton 'sails' were slipped over four of the six vanes and the windmill started to turn with the wind.

"We took it very gradually, testing four of the vanes first," said project architect Steven Bonnici, who has been involved in the work right from the start.

"In a few days will will run the windmill with all of its sails."

The windmill is two storeys high and a wooden cap at the top turns 360 degrees so that the vanes face the wind. Putting on the sails is a difficult process.

The facade of the building shows a small crucifix recalling the day in 1816 when a man and a woman died when lightning struck the building as they were dismantling the sails.

Nearly all of the machinery was rebuilt over the past two years, mostly of oak, elm, olive and spruce as well as stone.

All are according to the original dimensions, and what remains of the old machinery which could not be reused has been put on display as part of an exhibition on the history of the mill inside the building. 

The project was funded by the council, EU funds, the Department for Local Government and the Planning Authority's Development Planning Fund. The works were directed by Doric Studio architects and handled by contractors Creaid Restoration Projects and Radix (mechanism).