Overall, the passage of time has not been too unkind to antique fountains in Malta and Gozo. Yes, there are lamentable exceptions, like the magnificent Neptune fountain in the Marina, destroyed at the whim of Governor Le Marchand who coveted the central Ġgant to embellish his palace courtyard, with dire results, including the disappearance of the four large bronze bas-reliefs which decorated the base, now rumoured to be in British private collections. 

Or the three-tiered Wignacourt fountain at the centre of palace square, dismantled as it disturbed military drills and now hidden in Floriana. Or another one facing the law courts, removed to make way for Sciortino’s Great Siege monument. Or the cannon-shaped waterspout from which all sailing ships of the Order replenished their water supply in Grand Harbour. Or the one behind Porta di Monte, destroyed for realigning Victoria Gate.

The Għajn tal-Ħasselin, in Msida, c. 1920.

"Godfrey Wettinger, the historian, has listed at least 74 placenames starting with Għajn; not at all bad for two tiny, parched islands"

The Għajn Rażul fountain at St Paul’s Bay in the 1910s.

Others did not make it to the scrap heap – they were endlessly trundled around, like the Omnibus Idem fountain, doomed to a life of vagrancy. It has toured four locations; originally inside Porta Reale, on the side of the Ferreria (foundry) of the Order, it later moved opposite the side of the Opera House, then again, on the renovation of St James’s Cavalier, till it (finally?) came to rest when Renzo Piano realised his parliament project.

Fountain was the genteel name for the place, usually decorated, from where underground water gushes out. The word actually lent its name to Fontana, a small conurbation in Gozo. The native word for fountain, spring or washhouse was għajn. Godfrey Wettinger, the historian, has listed at least 74 placenames starting with Għajn; not at all bad for two tiny, parched islands.

All images from the author’s collection.

The old Għeriexem fountain on the outskirts of Rabat, c. 1915.

The fountain on the grounds of the Sacra Infermeria, in Valletta.

The Fontana water spring used as a wash house near Victoria, Gozo, at least since the days of the Order.

The Wignacourt fountain, in Floriana in the 1910s.

Fountain in Christopher Street, Valletta, c. 1910.

The fountain on Saqqajja Hill, Rabat, below the niche of St Paul in the 1910s.

Monumental fountain in Villa Bologna in the 1920s.