A few weeks ago, I decided to take a trip to Birgu to roam around the quiet streets on a Saturday morning. My partner and I were strolling around the backstreets of the city (also known as Vittoriosa), which have seen everything from the Great Siege in 1565 to World War II, just taking it all in. One of the last streets we ventured through was Hilda Tabone Street - one of the main streets of the city named after a famous Maltese soprano.

Admiring the quaint surroundings, we walked along it. Children were playing in an alley – a rare sight nowadays – and a man sitting on the front step of his house greeted us with a friendly bonġu (good morning). We greeted him, and as we were about to keep walking, a little blob of white bobbed down the stairs and sat next to him. Intrigued, my partner asked “Dik ħamiema?” (is that a pigeon?). That question was all that was needed to break the ice, and Birgu local John went on to open the history books and tell us all about his hometown.

The house we were standing in front of, he explained, had been in his family for 85 years. “My siblings and I were all born in that upstairs bedroom,” he says, pointing to a traditional Maltese window pane. “My wife and I have been living here for many years, and have also raised our family here,” he continues, as he keeps an eye on two of his grandchildren playing with other children in the street.

John catches hold of his cheeky bird before it squabbles off down the street, placing it on his shoulder. “He’s eye candy this one," he laughs, "Tourists love him! My face is probably plastered on some fridge in Australia for all I know!” John goes on to explain that this pigeon is the only one left of his flock, recalling the days when he used to breed around 90 of the birds. “This little guy,” he says, “has never left my side. I raised him and I’m the only family he knows. No matter how high he flies, he always comes back to me.”

The Birgu local goes on to explain that Hilda Tabone Street isn’t what it once was. At one time, he remembers 23 stores in this narrow street alone! “Back then, there was a shop for everything. Be it sweets, meat, a cobbler, grocer, carpenter, milk, fruit and veg, tinned food, you name it! We had it all here.” He recounts that after his father, Giovan, left the dockyards, he went on to be a carpenter and did work for the whole city. John too learnt the trade and is a carpenter by profession, although he is retired now, and enjoys spending time with his family.

However, he is still very much an active citizen. John also reveals that he worked at the Inquisitor’s Palace, just a few streets away, for 25 years - a courthouse during the Inquisition which was later used as a military hospital, mess hall and convent in subsequent centuries.

“It’s one of the only palaces of its kind left standing around the world,” he says, proudly. Today, John volunteers regularly at the Mużew tal-Knisja ta’ San Lawrenz (Church Museum of St Lawrence), just beyond the square.

He goes on to reminisce about the clock tower that once stood in the square, which was sadly destroyed in World War II. “It was one of the worst air raids we experienced. On 16th January 1942, German airplanes swooped down and dropped aerial bombs on the city, which completely destroyed the clock.” The same air raid demolished the church, but, as has become popular lore, one four-month-old baby survived, and grew up to live in a house close to the church, right till this day!

As our conversation came to an end, John suggested a local café to grab a cup of joe and a few pastizzi (traditional cheese or pea cakes). We shook his hand and waved goodbye to his family, and headed over to his recommended spot, and as we did, we couldn't help but reflect on the wealth of undiscovered history, carried by older generations of locals in Malta. So thank you John, for a fantastic chat and for opening our eyes to stones left unturned!