The restoration works, which have just been completed, are a worthy tribute to the man behind it.
In the last few days, the residents of Zabbar, in the south of the island, and all those who travel through the city, will have discovered something different. The single arch guarding its funnelled entrance – a monument known as Hompesch Gate – has been carefully restored to its former glory, revealing more details about the history and heritage of this area of the island.
Omar Camilleri / DOI
Built in 1801 in honour of the Grandmaster of the Knights of St John, Ferdinand Von Hompesch zu Bolheim, who declared Zabbar a city in 1797, the restoration took eight months to complete. It included cleaning dirt from its façade, structural work to strengthen the arch as well as the removing of metal fixtures and cement-based plaster which had been implanted on its surface over the years.
Unfortunately, the man to whom the gate was dedicated never actually saw the monument and never knew the depth of appreciation felt by the people of Zabbar towards it. In 1798 – just a year after Zabbar was given the title Citta Gratiosae Hompesch - the islands were invaded by the French, who expelled the knights. Grandmaster Hompesch settled in Trieste, which became the new headquarters for the Order, but resigned as Grandmaster just a year later, eventually moving to France, where he died penniless in 1805.
In 1925, Hompesch Gate was scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument, and has also been included in the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands, cementing the significance of the actions of one man on future generations.
Head to Zabbar to see it in its renewed glory!