Next time you find yourself strolling through Valletta’s winding streets, take a moment to look up. Usually the city’s iconic wooden balconies get all the attention, but if you take a peek underneath them, you’ll find an often-overlooked detail – stone corbels, known locally as ‘saljaturi’, that are more than just structural supports.

While many of these corbels are carved with elegant, baroque designs or noble crests, others have a more unsettling presence. Among the ornate swirls and sculpted motifs, grotesque stone faces peer down from the buildings – tongues sticking out, eyes bulging, and expressions twisted into menacing glares.

This wasn’t just the artist’s imagination going wild – these bizarre, exaggerated features are believed to have served a protective purpose. Rooted in superstition, such carvings were designed to ward off ‘l-għajn ħażina’ – the evil eye – protecting the home and its inhabitants from harm or jealousy.

So next time you’re wandering through the city and see a carving that looks like an undecided mix between a cat and human face, remember: the past might just be staring right back at you.

What’s the weirdest stone corbel you’ve ever seen?