A Din l-Art Ħelwa volunteer will lead a 90-minute tour of Msida Bastion Historic Garden on Saturday at 10am.

The garden served as Malta’s main Protestant cemetery from 1806 to 1856. At least 528 people were buried there, mainly British servicemen, officials and businessmen and their families, some of whose descendants still live in Malta today, as well as some Maltese, including Mikiel Anton Vassalli, known as the father of the Maltese language.

The cemetery contains many marble headstones and funerary monuments as well as indigenous and exotic trees, some of which are 200 years old. It was restored by Din l-Art Ħelwa in collaboration with government ministries and the British High Commission over a 10-year period between the 1980s and 1990s, and was awarded the Silver Medal by Europa Nostra in 2002. In 2004, a small Museum of Maltese Burial Practices was opened adjacent to the garden.

During this event, the tour guide will recount stories regarding duels, suicides, heroism and explain the funeral and military architecture, symbols of death.

Participation in the tour is limited to 20 adults, who will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. A donation of €5 per person, including the entrance ticket, tour, tea/coffee/soft drinks/biscuits will be requested. The garden is located in Vincenzo Dimech Street, Floriana (further in from the Grand Hotel Excelsior and the central public library). For bookings, e-mail  the warden of the garden, Paolo Ferrelli, on wardengor@gmail.com.