Stand at a roundabout in Lija and look up. A stone tower rises from the middle of the traffic island, tall, slender and clearly built for pleasure rather than defence. It has the proportions of a garden pavilion that has been given a bigger stage than anyone planned.
A folly in an orange garden
Lija Belvedere Tower, officially Torri Belvedere, is an architectural monument you hear about when travelling in the central region of Malta, in the area of the Three Villages, which includes Attard and Balzan. It was built in 1857 as a folly within the gardens of Villa Gourgion.
A folly is a decorative building, usually built to reflect the status of the estate it belongs to. This one was built for the Marquis Depiro, whose family used the villa as a residence. The family placed the tower in the middle of their gardens and orange groves, and used it to receive guests and to rest in the peace of the citrus gardens.
The architect and the style
The project belongs to the architect Giuseppe Bonavia, who also created the Francia Palace and Buttigieg in Valletta. He designed the belvedere in the neoclassical style and built it of limestone, the traditional Maltese material. The tower’s clean lines are typical of the style, which favours proportion and restraint over the heavier decoration of the earlier Baroque.
Surviving the new road
In 1950 Transfiguration Avenue was built, and the surroundings of the tower were considerably altered. Part of the gardens was destroyed. The tower and the villa were separated by a high wall that enclosed the rest of the gardens. As a result of the road plan, the belvedere ended up directly on the road.
Happily, it was preserved in its original position by creating a roundabout on the spot. This unusual solution is the reason the tower looks as it does today, a garden folly planted in the middle of a traffic island.
Protection and restoration
Lija is changing in appearance, and to keep its architectural heritage the Malta Environment and Planning Authority proposed a plan to preserve the sites of the villa, the tower and their surroundings. Under the plan, buildings taller than two floors above street level will be prohibited in the area.
In the middle of the 1990s the tower was restored by the Giroloramu Cassar School of Masonry and Restoration. The renovation was financed by the Ministry of Education, which aims to keep monuments in good condition for locals and visitors alike.
Seeing it
The tower takes only a short stop. Park or alight nearby, cross the road with care, and look at the stonework and the proportions from the pavement. Because it stands on a roundabout, there is no quiet spot to stand, so keep an eye on traffic.
The Three Villages reward a slower visit. Attard has the gardens and palace of San Anton, and Balzan and Lija have streets of old houses and parish churches. A walk through the villages, with a coffee in the square, makes the tower part of a pleasant morning.
Early morning light is best for photographs, before the traffic builds.
Why a folly mattered
Follies were a fashion of the nineteenth century, and wealthy families used them to show taste and leisure. A tower in the middle of an orange grove served no defensive purpose, but it gave the family a place to climb for a view over their land and to entertain guests. Its elegance was the point.
The surviving tower is a rare reminder of that lifestyle in a region of Malta that has become increasingly built up. The neighbouring villages were once surrounded by citrus gardens and country houses, and a few of those gardens remain behind high walls.
Making a morning of it
Start in Lija and look at the tower, then walk toward the parish church and the quiet streets nearby. From there it is easy to continue to Balzan and Attard, where San Anton Palace and its gardens, now the residence of the President, sit among avenues of trees. Bring a hat in summer, because the roads between the villages are not shaded. Late afternoon also suits the stone.
