Msida Bastion Garden of Rest
| Msida Bastion Garden of Rest Msida Bastion Cemetery |
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| Basic data | ||
| place | Floriana | |
| Created | 1806 | |
| Buildings | Tombs | |
35 ° 53 '45.9 " N , 14 ° 30' 8.4" E
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The Msida Bastion Garden of Rest , also Msida Bastion Cemetery or Msida Bastion Historic Garden is a former Protestant cemetery in Floriana on the Maltese main island of Malta . It is listed in the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands under number 52 and is a Grade 1 Monument a listed building .
location
The Msida Bastion Cemetery is located in front of St Philip's Bastion , a 1,653 completed external mounting structure in Floriana. Under the rule of the Order of Malta, the gallows stood on an area above the site .
history
After Great Britain took control of the Maltese archipelago at the beginning of the 19th century , a cemetery for British sailors was laid out in 1806. Later, Anglican and Protestant soldiers, administrative officials, merchants and their family members, but also some Maltese, found their final resting place there. The use of the cemetery ended around 1857 after the Ta 'Braxia cemetery in Gwardamanġa ( Pietà ) was established.
During the Second World War , the former cemetery suffered several bomb hits. In the post-war period, the tombs fell into disrepair and the park-like area became overgrown. As early as 1930, Captain Charles Zammit reported that most of the inscriptions were damaged and illegible.
In 1988 the then Minister of Education Ugo Mifsud Bonniċi promised that the site should be restored and made available as a public garden. It was demarcated by a high wall and a gate to prevent vandalism. The restoration work, which was carried out by volunteers under the responsibility of the organization Dín l-Art Ħelwa , continued into the 21st century.
In 2014, the named National Geographic Society to Msida Bastion Cemetery one of the five most beautiful cemeteries in Europe.
Plant and funerals
Thanks to the fertile soil and the protected location, the Garden of Rest has developed into a refuge for plants and animals. Some of the trees there are more than 150 years old.
At least 528 people were buried here, according to the records. The most important Maltese buried here is probably Mikiel Anton Vassalli (1764–1829), who is considered the founder of Maltese linguistics. Because he had translated the New Testament into Maltese against the will of the Roman Catholic hierarchy , the Roman Catholic Church denied him a Catholic burial and he was buried in the Msida Bastion Cemetery . His wife was also buried here in 1851.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Historic Garden, Floriana. In: Heritage Sites managed by Din l-Art Helwa. Dín l-Art Ħelwa , accessed February 7, 2020 (English).
- ↑ a b Msida Bastion Cemetery. (PDF; 1.3 MB) In: National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Sovrintendenza tal-Patrimonju Kulturale, March 30, 2012, accessed on February 7, 2020 .
- ↑ National Geographic names Msida Bastion Cemetery one of 'Europe's five loveliest cemeteries'. The Malta Independent, November 23, 2014, accessed February 8, 2020 .