Nowadays, heading to Saint Julian’s or Paceville at any given time is bound to get you up close and personal with hordes of people – but it wasn’t always like this…

Before they were populated by bars, restaurants, shops, and nightclubs, these two urban hubs were home to nothing but fields and a seaside palace.

A bird’s-eye-view photo, posted to social media by Frank O’Neill, perfectly captures what St Julian’s looked like before Paceville had even started being built.

The photo shows parts of the stunning Dragonara Palace, which was built in the 1870s as the noble Scicluna family’s summer residence.

The palace’s unusual name was inspired by a local legend that says that a dragon once lived in the caves of the area. Some even theorise that the name was inspired by Ottoman naval commander Dragut, who had set up camp there before the Great Siege of 1565.

Dragut had also died just three kilometres away from where the palace now stands.

During World War I, the palace was opened up as a hospital for wounded soldiers, and the Scicluna family went on to house many refugees during World War II.

In 1964, the palace was transformed into a casino, and it remains in such state to this very day.

The palace’s transformation took place at around the same time the neighbouring area started being developed.

Facebook/Frank O'neill