A historic garden in Floriana has been given a €4 million facelift.

The Mall Gardens has received new paving, upgraded lighting and irrigation systems and had monuments restored and rebuilt where necessary. It has also been equipped with Wi-Fi facilities and a CCTV camera system. 

Built in 1656 during the reign of Grandmaster Lascaris and used by the Knights of St John as an area to play a form of croquet, the Mall Gardens was converted into a public garden in 1805 by Sir Alexander Ball. 

Its 400m-long strip serves as a recreational area for locals and tourists and hosts a number of monuments commemorating Maltese personalities. 

All those monuments, along with arches at the garden’s entrance, have been restored. A fountain was rebuilt from scratch. 

Workers installed 7,500 square metres of new paving inside the garden as well as 2,000 square metres of new paving for a pavement that surrounds it. 

Photo: Infrastructure Ministry

Works were led by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation and the garden will now be maintained by state agency Ambjent Malta.  “We listened to the local council and residents of Floriana, who consider this garden to be an iconic one in their locality, and took action,” said Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia as he inaugurated the project on Friday evening. 

“Among other things, they pointed out the lack of security in this garden in the evening. We took on board the advice of experts in restoration, who pointed out that the fountains, monuments and walls all needed to be restored. Above all, we wanted to continue to fulfil the government’s vision of creating more open spaces. We look forward to see this garden enjoyed by everyone and kept in a decent state,” he said.