Ponsonby's Column, also known as Ponsonby's Cenotaph, was a

monumental column A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a heroic commemoration, including victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was built in 1838 as a memorial to Major-General Sir Frederick Ponsonby, a former

Governor of Malta A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

, but it was destroyed by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

in 1864. Its plinth survived, and is now located near Hastings Gardens.

History

Major-General Sir Frederick Ponsonby, an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

aristocrat, was appointed

on 15 February 1827. While Ponsonby was in England in 1836, he resigned from the post of Governor, and died suddenly on 11 January of the following year. In 1838, a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

was built in honour of the dead Governor on St. Andrew's Bastion, overlooking

Marsamxett Harbour Marsamxett Harbour (), historically also referred to as Marsamuscetto, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It is located to the north of the larger Grand Harbour. The harbour is generally more dedicated to leisure use than the Grand Ha ...

. Its architect is not known, but it could have been designed by

Giorgio Pullicino Giorgio Pullicino (8 July 1779 – 25 October 1851) was a Maltese painter, architect, and professor of drawing and architecture at the University of Malta. He is known for his harbour views painted in a number of media, and he is also considere ...

. The monument consisted of a 70-foot-high

Doric column The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

on a plinth, surmounted by an urn. The main inscription read: In January 1864, the column was struck by lightning, and it was subsequently demolished. The plinth remained intact, but in November 1888 it was removed from St. Andrew's Bastion to make way for new gun emplacements on the bastion. The plinth was reassembled near Hastings Gardens on St. Michael's Bastion, and the following inscription was added: The plinth was damaged by shrapnel during aerial bombardment in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was restored a number of times over the years, most recently in 2013 under the sponsorship of the

Bank of Valletta Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) is a Maltese bank and financial services company headquartered in Santa Venera. It is the oldest established financial services provider in Malta and one of the largest. As of 2014, the bank had 44 branches, 6 regio ...

. The plinth is listed as a Grade 1 national monument by MEPA.

References

External links

* {{Valletta Monumental columns Buildings and structures in Valletta Monuments and memorials in Malta Neoclassical architecture in Malta Buildings and structures completed in 1838 Buildings and structures demolished in 1864 Demolished buildings and structures in Malta 1838 establishments in Malta 1864 disestablishments in Malta

History

See also

References

External links