The Upper Barrakka Gardens ( mt, Il-Barrakka ta' Fuq) are a public

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Along with the

Lower Barrakka Gardens The Lower Barakka Gardens () is a garden in Valletta, Malta, and it is twinned with the Upper Barrakka Gardens. The gardens have a view of the Grand Harbour and the breakwater. It includes the Monument to Sir Alexander Ball, which is a prominent ...

in the same city, they offer a panoramic view of the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks (Malta Dockyard), wharves, and ...

. The gardens are located on the upper tier of St. Peter & Paul Bastion, which was built in the 1560s. The bastion's lower tier contains the Saluting Battery. The garden's terraced arches were built in 1661 by the Italian knight Fra Flaminio Balbiani. They were originally roofed, but the ceiling was removed following the Rising of the Priests in 1775. The gardens were originally used to offer recreation to the knights of the Italian langue of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, but were opened to the public following the end of the

French occupation of Malta The French occupation of Malta lasted from 1798 to 1800. It was established when the Order of Saint John surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798. In Malta, the French established a constitutional tradition in M ...

in 1800. In the park there are several monuments and memorials to a number of prominent people, including

Gerald Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the L ...

, Sir Thomas Maitland and Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. A replica of the statue ''

Les Gavroches ''Les Gavroches'' is a bronze sculpture by Antonio Sciortino, depicting Parisian street children inspired by Gavroche from the 1862 Victor Hugo novel ''Les Misérables''. The statue was cast in 1904, and for most of the 20th century it was displ ...

'' (the Street Boys) by the Maltese sculptor

Antonio Sciortino Antonio Sciortino (Ħaż-Żebbuġ; 25 January 1879 – 10 August 1947) was a Malta, Maltese artist, considered Malta’s foremost sculpture, sculptor of the twentieth century. His career unfolded almost entirely in Rome, where he resided from 190 ...

is also located in the garden. The original is found in

MUŻA MUŻA is an art museum located at Auberge d'Italie in Valletta, Malta. It was formerly located at Admiralty House between 1974 and 2016, when it was known as the National Museum of Fine Arts ( mt, Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arti). It houses a collect ...

. It is the highest point of the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, and thus its bordering terrace offers a clear view over the

, the

Three Cities The Three Cities ( mt, It-Tlett Ibliet) is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua in Malta. The oldest of the Three Cities is Vittoriosa, which has existed since prior to the Middle Ages. Th ...

, as well as over the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

and the lower-lying parts the capital. The gardens are linked to Valletta's

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

and the nearby Lascaris Wharf by the

Barrakka Lift The Barrakka Lift is a lift in Valletta, Malta which was constructed in 2012, on the site of a previous lift which had operated from 1905 to 1973 and which was demolished in 1983. It is located inside the ditch of the fortifications of Valletta, ...

. The first

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

on the site was built in 1905, but was closed in 1973 and dismantled in 1983. The lift can be seen in operation in the 1968 British adventure film, ''

A Twist of Sand ''A Twist of Sand'' is a 1968 British adventure film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Richard Johnson, Jeremy Kemp, Honor Blackman and Peter Vaughan based on the novel by Geoffrey Jenkins. Plot A former British naval officer now makes hi ...

''. A new lift was inaugurated on 15 December 2012.

References

External links

Some public monuments of Valletta 1800-1955
1661 establishments in Malta Barrakka Gardens, Upper Geography of Valletta {{Malta-geo-stub