Fawwara Gate

Location

The archway is located near Rue d'Argens on the way from Msida to Sliema. The archway was said to have been dismantled by members of the Sliema Historic Society (SHS), but this was categorically denied by Salvino Testaferrata Moroni Viani by providing primary sources as evidence. Today the archway stands in a less notable place as the area has been build up, and it is generally ignored for standing on a side road of Gzira next to Muscat Motors, a car showroom. It is few metres away from the Empire Stadium, the former national Maltese football stadium.

History

The archway was built by the aristocratic Testaferrata family in 1796 when Fra Nicolaus Butius saw the need for the development of a main road in the area to facilitate movement from Msida to Sliema, with this event commemorated with the structure itself. The gate originally stood in the locality of Birkirkara but with the passage of time the area where it stands became a separate locality as Gzira. Another similar archway with similar architecture was built in Ta' Xbiex, the Ta' Xbiex Gate by the same Testaferrata family. This was demolished in 1989 and the exact location it stood is unknown but was in the parameters of Brockdorff Street. The Fawwara Gate was a source of inspiration to 19th-century painters.

The archway has been left in a dilapidated state for quite some years, having had unprofessional restoration in 1908 with the use of cement causing it more harm. Since 1933 the archway was given to the responsibility of a business as part of the contractual lease of a building in the vicinity. However no maintenance has ever been recorded to have taken place until it came to a wider public criticism of its neglect.

On the turn of the 21th century the gate was caught by the attention of the Sliema Historic Society (SHS), bringing the attention of the local media, leading and exposing outrage of its state. In June 2012 the arch was in danger to collapse and for this reason it was listed under the Emergency Conservation Order with the use of the Environment and Development Planning Act 2010 with the use of article 82. The government of Malta was sensitive of not infringing law as the archway stands on private property. The business owner took responsibility to restore the archway and works of restoration were carried out in 2013. Today the archway is in a good state of preservation and open to public any time of the day.

It has been initially suggested that the gate be graded as grade 2 national monument but was later graded as grade 1 national monument in the final decision of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA).

Description

In a 1930 publication by Sir Temi Zammit the archway is praised for it architecture with Zammit referring to it as "a beautiful stone gateway." On the archway one finds the coat of arms of the Testaferrata family and an inscription.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms represented in the gate displays in its lower half the bull typical of the Testaferrata family, which originally consisted of a red bull against a silver background. This seal was later modified by descendants of Giacomo Testaferrata II to incorporate a black open-chested eagle against a golden background on the top part of the shield. The shield was capped by an helm from which sprung two eagle wings, black and golden in colour from the right side and black and red from the left one. This helm symbolized the Testaferrata's imperial status of nobility.

Inscription

The inscription on the gate is written as the following: