Ir-Razzett tax-Xjaten is a strange building. Its name immediately invokes a degree of dread and revulsion; possibly sorcery. Several legends and tales surround the building as people sought to make sense of its origin and purpose.

Some say it was built in one night (others say three nights) of full moon by evil spirits who had sold their souls to the devil. Eventually, a courageous priest from the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa exorcised the place, and it is said that, thereafter, the evil spirits left this building for good.

A cross potent lies engraved on one of the building’s doorways. Could this be the mark left behind by the priest, in order to keep evil spirits away from this building?

Another legend has it that on certain occasions, some Melliħin could hear cries of diabolic souls haunting the place in nights of a full moon, so much so that the spacious structure has been left abandoned.

Another popular tale is that this building was given this name (‘The Devil’s Farmhouse’) intentionally, so that knights or other important people could meet here to conduct illicit meetings or business in private, without any interference from the nearby Mellieħa community.

While there are various legends and tales about this structure, records of its plan, its date of construction, and its purpose are unfortunately lacking. Most sources suggest that the building was erected around 1750 during the time of the Knights of the Order of St John.

The building was erected around 1750 during the time of the Knights

Apart from the macabre stories, its name indicates that the building was used as a farmhouse. However, even in this regard, it does not resemble the typical Maltese farmhouse.

A typical Maltese farmhouse usually consists of a number of box-like structures surrounding a central courtyard. The ground floor rooms were usually planned to cater for animal husbandry. Only one or two upper rooms, usually accessed by an open staircase, were reserved for the farmer’s family.

Ir-Razzett tax-Xjaten does not follow this layout and instead consists of two parts. The main section consists of a large rectangular structure divided into three rooms; two lofty spacious rooms intended for human use and a smaller third room probably used as a storeroom. These rooms were separated from each other by two dividing walls.

This layout indicates that human habitation was given far more importance in this building, when compared to the typical Maltese farmhouse. The ceiling of the two imposing rooms consists of a series of bridging stone slabs supported by transverse diaphragm rib arches.

These two large rooms do not have any windows, and the only source of light comes from the doorways and a number of narrow slit-like openings located high within its thick walls, that mainly served as ventilation shafts. The walls of these rooms were whitewashed.

The smaller third room located on the eastern end of the building was further subdivided into an upper and a lower section. Both the upper and lower sections had their ceilings supported by a segmental arch.

It is interesting to note that some of the stones making up the lower segmental arch bear stonemasons’ marks. These marks relate to the building of the structure and can often be found in many 18th century buildings, especially military ones.

At each lateral end of this main section lie two almost identical enclosed narrow staircases, that allow one to access the building’s roof. On the roof, both of these staircases are covered by small sloping exit rooms that bear a close resemblance to those found on Hospitaller towers, such as St Thomas Tower in Marsascala. The main difference is that the exit rooms on top of the Devil’s Farmhouse have their opening on the side, as opposed to those of the Hospitaller towers which usually open at the front end.

These two staircases raise a number of questions: Firstly, why would such a building require two staircases in order to reach its roof? And secondly, why were the staircases covered when typically, Maltese farmhouses had an open staircase?

The presence of two staircases and their similarity to those of Hospitaller towers may indicate that the building might have served as a form of redoubt or blockhouse. Could it be that these two staircases were intended for militia troops to reach the building’s roof quickly in order to defend the structure from enemy forces?

Whatever their intended role was, the two staircases gave rise to a myth that their hooded exit rooms on each side of the building represent the ‘devil’s horns’.

The façade of this main section is bare. The two arched doorways lack any decorative features. There are no armorial bearings or inscriptions. Yet, on close inspection, one can find various graffiti on the southern walls. These include sailing ships with flags resembling those from the time of the Order of St John; there are also primitive numerals, various crosses and human-like figures. Nevertheless, none of these shed any information on the building’s original purpose.

Quoting Leonard Mahoney’s book 5,000 years of Architecture in Malta, the other part of the Devil’s Farmhouse consists of “a large, very large, stable; big enough, almost, for a whole army of troopers”. This stable consists of a long, low-lying building with multiple internal and external, large, arched niche-mangers. These large feeding troughs are located around three courses above the floor, which show that they were probably used for horses, not cows or goats.

In addition, there are about 18 feeding mangers, indicating a large provision for horses. So, as Mahoney suggested in his book, this building was not originally intended to be used as a farmhouse, but probably as a cavallerizza (horse-riding school) or some sort of headquarters for troopers patrolling the northern side of the island.

The stable’s roof consists of extra-long stone slabs (xorok tal-qasba) resting upon a compound kilep type of roof corbelling. The term compound kilep refers to the fact that a row of gently curved lower consoles carries a row of larger corbelling components, which in turn support the xorok.

Unfortunately, these long stone slabs started to break down with time and wooden beams were incorporated to safeguard the stable’s ceiling. Nevertheless, due to neglect and weathering, these wooden beams are now falling apart, bringing parts of the roof down.

Another interesting feature within the stable is the presence of a small hovel that lies adjacent to the main section of the farmhouse. This was separated from the stable by means of a dividing wall. This room contains a built-in stone oven equipped with a chimney.

A visual inspection of the Devil’s Farmhouse implies that there were two construction phases. The absence of proper mechanical bonding between the ashlar stones (both on the interior and the exterior), between the main section and the stable suggests that the stable was built at a later stage.

The walls making up the Devil’s Farmhouse consist of an infill of stone chippings and soil, sandwiched between an inner and outer skin of neatly cut ashlar masonry stone. The northern and southern walls of the main section are around 1.5 metres thick, designed to take the side thrust of the masonry rib arches.

In certain parts of the stable, especially within the northern wall, the inner and outer layers consist of mixed ashlar and rubble stones that are heavily plastered with mortar. The upper coralline hardstone blocks employed for this structure were cut from a nearby quarry. Nowadays, this quarry is used as a field.

Unlike most other Maltese farmhouses, the Devil’s Farmhouse was not self-sufficient with respect to rainwater harvesting. The building seems to lack any wells or water storage facilities. The roofs of the main section and the stable were drained by a series of hardstone spouts (mwieżeb). As a matter of fact, local farmers recall how the families that used to live in this building obtained water from nearby private wells.

The southern side of the building was surrounded by a low rubble perimeter wall, pierced by three gate-like structures. These contain sockets to accommodate the top end of swivel-type wooden gates that are commonly seen in other Maltese farmhouses. Internally, the rubble walls divide this internal perimeter into different compartments. For example, the area in front of the stable was separated from the area in front of the main section of the farmhouse by the aforementioned rubble walls, and access was via another internal gate.

Ir-Razzett tax-Xjaten is a difficult building to categorise since, although it is a rural structure, it does not conform to the ordinary typology and organic form of most farmsteads.

In the absence of any concrete data and information to date, there are five factors that may help shed some light on its true origins: 1) its location in the landscape away from Mellieħa’s village core; 2) its orientation in relation to Mellieħa Bay and the country road that skirts it; 3) its highly organised and efficient design with defensive features; 4) the later addition of a large stable, and 5) the later accretions of organic rural elements (such as a small room along the main building’s southern wall and two giren).

Many aspects indicate a non-agricultural, perhaps even military, origin

Thus, aside from its rustic settings, there are many aspects of the Devil’s Farmhouse that indicate a non-agricultural, perhaps even military, origin to its form and layout. Its original use was probably lost on later generations, and once the building was left abandoned, farmers hailing from Mellieħa took over the building and used it as a farmhouse, altering the structure as the need arose. In fact, some elderly residents from Mellieħa can still remember two families who used to live in the building.

Nowadays, ir-Razzett tax-Xjaten lies abandoned, waiting, not for a priest, but for someone to restore it.

 

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Stephen C. Spiteri and Jeffrey Sammut. The author also referred to Carol J. Jaccarini’s Ir-Razzett, the Maltese Farmhouse, for his research.