Sliema
is a relatively young town; it was still an unnamed stretch of
agricultural land up to the nineteenth century.
In stark contrast, the so-called 'Sliema-area'
(incorporating the neighbouring towns) is nowadays best known
for its touristic activity, with its many hotels, eating
places, beaches, entertainment and shopping areas, as well as
a lovely promenade stretching all the way from Ta' Xbiex
Terrace to Saint Julians's Bay.
However, a couple of streets away from the luxury apartments
lining the very popular Sliema waterfront, from The Ferries (ix-Xatt),
all along Tower Road (Ghar id-Dud and Fond Ghadir)
and right up to Balluta Bay, one finds a different world where
real life goes on. Anyone who truly knows
Sliema will tell you that it has a diversity of faces and,
like all of Malta's towns and villages, Sliema has its share
of different backgrounds, social and economic, despite the
erroneous public generalization (inspired by those affecting
to be the elitest) that it is a strictly
English-speaking neighbourhood of stately houses and high
incomes. The Early Years
Contrary to its present state, the locality
we now know as Sliema was once a quiet retreat, the ideal
'summer
residence' of people hailing from Malta's more urbanised
areas of the nineteenth century; principally the areas
around the Grand Harbour. One very distinguished
Maltese citizen, among others, who resided at Sliema for
considerable periods was Malta's National Poet, Dun Karm,
whose house was in Victoria Terrace1.
Winston Zammit (in his informative book: Tas-Sliema
fis-Seklu XIX) tells us that during the first quarter of
the 1800s, the location was described as a 'marine
village', home to just over 300
people. In Sliema's early years we find only a
handful of families living in the locality, some earning their
living from farming, a few trading as merchants and the rest
mostly employed in the services of wealthy Maltese and foreign
households.
Perhaps owing to its 19th century British Military
connections, most notably at Fort Tigne' which was used for
Army Barracks, Sliema also became home to some renown foreign
families, amongst which we find that of Charles MacIver
(owner of the world famous 'Cunard Line') and of the Prince
and Princess of Capua.
But in less than a century, the almost-barren landscape
rapidly developed into one of the more populated, if
not the most popular, of Maltese towns.
The history of this part of Malta is generally
linked to the events of the 19th and 20th centuries, when
British forces were stationed at Tigne' Barracks (Teeny
for some), in the old Fort Tigne' (pron Tin-yeah), at
the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour, dating back to the Knights
of Saint John. There are other important British
military sites just outside Sliema, namely Saint Andrews
Barracks, Fort Pembroke and Fort Madliena.
As the area flanks one of Malta's two main harbours, where
British warships sheltered during World War Two, a fiery rain
of destruction poured upon Sliema and its neighbours; the same
ill fate shared by all harbour towns in Malta between 1940 and
1943. After the end of the War, the area -- by
then densely populated and already commercialized -- remained
popular with many allied servicemen, some of whom frequented
the coastal bars for their 'entertainment.'
But not all of the area's history is a mere century
old. One of Grand Master de Redin's 13 coastal towers still
stands boldly on the Sliema coastline, giving its name to the
popular Tower Road. Some 5 more watchtowers are
situated along the shoreline from Sliema right up to Qawra
point in the island's north.
We speak of the general 'area' when we treat the history of
this locality because none of the towns we find today actually
existed at the start of the 19th century and so, without
today's council boundaries, the place was one broad estate,
without distinction, mostly field and rock, sharing one fate.
On Manoel Island, in the suburb of Gzira,
one still finds the ruins of the Order's Lazzaretto Hospital
as well as the grand Fort Manoel, funded by Grand Master
Antonio Manoel de Vilhena (1722-1736). The
hospital was used for Quarantine purposes even during British
occupation and personalities such as the young Benjamin
Disraeli spent their share of time here during their Malta
visit. Lord Byron, on the other hand, was allowed
to spend his quarantine at Fort Manoel instead, affording them
a little more comfort.
The surrounding towns
and suburbs include Pieta' and Msida, leading to Ta'Xbiex, Gzira, San Gwann, Kappara, Saint Julian's, Saint Andrew's, Madliena
and the oldest of the lot Naxxar. This is perhaps
taking things a bit too far, but this page intends to cover
all of these relatively linked areas.
All in all, the zone is a nest of
yacht marinas, gardens, commercial outlets, promenades,
beaches, hotels, night spots, entertainment areas and, yes,
plenty of historic sites.
Fond Ghadir Promenade
Fortizza, Ghar-id-Dud
