Tal-Wejter Tower

Tal-Wejter Tower
Torri tal-Wejter
Birkirkara, Malta

View of Tal-Wejter Tower, with original dismantled stones at the bottom
Coordinates 35°53′49.8″N 14°28′1.9″E / 35.897167°N 14.467194°E / 35.897167; 14.467194
Type Tower
Site information
Owner Private
Open to
the public		 No
Condition Intact but dilapidated
Site history
Built Late 17th or early 18th century
Built by Order of Saint John
Materials Limestone

Tal-Wejter Tower (Maltese: Torri tal-Wejter or It-Torri Wejter) is a tower in Birkirkara, Malta, which was built in the 17th or 18th centuries by the Order of Saint John. It is also known locally as it-Torri tal-Misħun (English: Boiling Water Tower), a reference to its machicolations which are known as galleriji tal-misħun in Maltese.[1] The tower was partially demolished in the 1960s, but it was later rebuilt. Today, it is in a rather dilapidated state.

History

Entrance to the tower

Tal-Wejter Tower was commissioned by Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, and it was built either in the late 17th or early 18th century. The tower stood on the road leading from San Ġwann and St. Julian's to Birkirkara. This area is now built up and the tower is surrounded by modern buildings.[2]

The tower was built to watch over the inland areas in the surrounding region of Birkirkara and to bridge the site of the Birkirkara Tower and Floriana. The project took place on the recommendations by Captain Foulet and Commander D'Argens, who were French knights of the Order of St. John.[3]

Part of the tower was illegally demolished in 1968, but it was later rebuilt. Today, the tower is still intact but it is deteriorating and it is feared that it might collapse.[4] The building is privately owned,[1] and it is currently for sale.[5] It was scheduled as a Grade 2 national monument by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2012.[6][7]

Architecture

Western corner of the tower, with two machicolations visible

Tal-Wejter Tower is a three-story high tower with a rectangular plan, with a room on each floor.[5] The upper two floors are separated by a moulded string course, and the roof has a high parapet wall. Each façade of the tower originally had box machicolations. The entrance to the tower is through an arched doorway built in the medieval style.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Dibattiti tal-Kamra tad-Deputati (Rapport Uffiċjali u Rivedut) – Il-Ħdax-il Parlament – Seduta Nru. 170" (in Maltese). Parliament of Malta. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Tal-Wejter Tower". Times of Malta. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Guillaumier, Alfie (2002). Bliet u Rħula Maltin, Second Volume (in Maltese). Klabb Kotba Maltin. p. 85. ISBN 99932-39-16-X.
  4. ↑ Azzopardi, Silvio (1 October 2008). "Two Historical gems that could be no more...". The Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 17 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Birkirkara, Unconverted Tower". Frank Salt Real Estate Ltd. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Protection granted to a further 29 buildings and sites". MEPA. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Mepa schedules a range of properties". Times of Malta. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015.

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