For as long as we can remember, Dwejra’s Azure Window has been part of Maltese culture and heritage. But a newly-rediscovered illustration has shed new light on the Azure Window’s origins, setting its formation almost 50 years earlier than previously thought.
Speculation about the iconic landmark’s age arose after its sudden collapse in March 2017. It featured in an album by photographer Richard Ellis dated 1879, but references to it earlier than that were rare to non-existent.
But now, thanks to social media, a much earlier aquarelle of the window in The Coastal Fortifications of Gozo and Comino by Alfred Sammut-Tagliaferro, dating back to 1824, has been uncovered. This means that upon its collapse, the Azure Window was at least 187 years old!
Despite its collapse, the window (or former window, we should say), continues to inspire artists and engineers. Among these is architect Svetozar Andreev’s proposal to rebuild the window in a polygonal structure made of mirrored steel faces. This didn’t really sit well with the Maltese…
The Azure Window site, which was the film location for various TV series and movies, is still visited by many tourists and locals alike who still lament the loss of such a breath-taking structure.
Did you know this about Gozo's iconic Azure Window?