San Anton Gardens

San Anton was laid out in the 1620s around the country villa of Grand Master Antoine de Paule, and the villa became the British governor's residence and is now the presidential palace. The gardens were opened to the public in 1882 and have stayed so: formal walks between mature trees, some of them planted in the seventeenth century, fountains, an aviary, and beds that are replanted seasonally. The Malta International Arts Festival uses the gardens in summer.

Background

The gardens surround San Anton Palace, in Maltese Il-Palazz Sant'Anton. Around 1600 a country villa was built on the site for Antoine de Paule, a knight in the Order of St. John. He was elected Grand Master in 1623, and around 1625 the villa was enlarged into a palace. After his death in 1636 later Grand Masters kept using it, since it lay closer to Valletta than the Verdala Palace. The two-storey building has a high square tower, which was lowered after lightning struck it in 1819. The palace and its gardens went on the Antiquities List of 1925 and are now a Grade 1 national monument.

Source: Wikipedia, "San Anton Palace"

What you'll find

• The mature trees - specimens dating back to the garden's seventeenth-century planting.
• The fountains - the formal water features along the main walks.
• The aviary - the bird collection kept in the gardens.
• The palace facade - the presidential residence seen from the garden side.

When to go

Year round; spring is best for the planted beds. Summer evenings are pleasant when the heat drops. Parts close for state functions.

Good to know

The palace itself is not open to visitors. Sections of the garden close without notice for official events. It is a public park and busy at weekends.

Nearby

Attard surrounds it, and Mosta is north.

Key facts