The Voice of the Maltese (driven by the voice of its readers )
Issue 113
o on nlliin ne e m ma ag ga az ziin ne e
October 27, 2015
DominickMDimacale
A characteristic of the Maltese streets in old cities and villages is the Maltese closed balcony (commonly known as Il-gallarija), a structure constrcuted mostly of wood and incorporating glass windows built on a stone base. The wooden balconies started to be constructed in the sixteenth century with the arrival of the Knights of St John, and the first such balcony, at the corner of the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta, was probably built in about 1697. The balcony became a special characteristic of
the streets of Valletta (see above in St Paul’s street. Other localities followed the trend. Such balconies need a lot of maintenance, therefore to avoid the expense, in the past few years, owners were converting them to steel and aluminium. In order to stop this practice, the government made it illegal for people to do such conversions particularly to structures in the core of the old towns and villages. It also offered grants for owners to help them offset expenses in doing the maintenance work.