Next time you’re strolling down Hamrun’s busy streets, pay extra attention to your surroundings and you just might spot a historic water tower dating back to the 17th century. 

Squeezed between two buildings, this tower is known by two Maltese names, Il-Monument tat-Tromba and it-Turretta ta’ Atocja and, despite its historic significance, it fell into disrepair in recent years. 

Thankfully, Malta’s Planning Authority (PA) has just announced that it has approved plans to restore this iconic structure back to its former glory. 

The tower was originally built as a water inspection site on the hill of St Nicholas and formed part of the aqueduct connection built by the Knights. This network transported water for nine and a half miles, all the way to Valletta.   

The Planning Authority took to social media to explain how this structure worked.

“At the watercourse end of the aqueduct, water falls continuously into a chamber from the top of the tower. At the bottom of the chamber, another aqueduct watercourse ejects into another direction with more water pressure. The height of the chamber fully filled with water, creates gravity pressure and increases pressure in the watercourse and will reach further distance,” it wrote.   

Grand Master Alof De Wignacourt had hired foreign engineers V.Bontadino de Bontadini of Bologna and Fra Natale Messucio of Messina to design the structure in the 17th century. Local architect Giovanni Attard was then employed to complete the project.    

If you look closely, the tower holds the Wignacourt coat of arms and a Latin inscription that translates to “as there is life in water, life started from water.”

Facebook/ Planning Authority