Restoration of the Water Tower, Ħamrun
Between 1610-15, Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt built an aqueduct to carry water by gravity from the springs in Dingli and Rabat to the fortified city of Valletta.1 The acqueduct featured three water inspection towers erected at Santa Venera, Ħamrun and Floriana. Ħamrun’s water tower, popularly known as Il-Monument tat-Tromba and it-Turretta ta’ Atoċja, was originally a free-standing structure in open countryside but is now to be found between houses in San Gejtanu Street. 2 It is a small cylindrical tower with a sloping lower half, built of 31 courses of ashlar masonry rising 8.5 meters in height from the ground and 5 meters in diameter at the bottom. Internally, the tower contains a cylindrical chamber with a narrow spiral staircase curved around it leading up to the terrace. The exterior facing the road is adorned with a marble escutcheon bearing the coat of arms of Grand Master Wignacourt and a Latin inscription. 3 When translated, the inscription reads “As there is life in water, life started from water.”4 The year 1613 was found inscribed on its walls. 5The tower was designed to enable both the possibility of an open inspection area of the water flowing down towards Valletta as well as to enable trapped air to escape from the water pipes. The tower’s inner cylindrical chamber was filled in at the top with water coming from the aqueduct and then released with greater pressure from the bottom into another pipe, thereby allowing the flow of water to travel a greater distance.
Restoration Process
The restoration interventions mostly focused on the external façade facing the street and comprised the removal of cement renders, the cleaning of the masonry fabric from biological growth, black crust and severe superficial deposits, as well as the repair and consolidation of damaged and consumed masonry elements. The works also involved the repair and maintenance of the roof and the internal stairway leading up to it.
Reference:
1. Grima, J. F. (2019, April 21). Construction and inauguration of Wignacourt’s aqueduct 1610-1615. The Sunday Times of Malta.
2. Zammit, Vincent (1992). Il-Gran Mastri – Ġabra ta’ Tagħrif dwar l-Istorja ta’ Malta fi Żmienhom – L-Ewwel Volum 1530–1680. Valletta: Valletta Publishing & Promotion Co. Ltd.
3. Restoration works scheme for Local Councils : projects undertaken in 2015-2023. (2024). Restoration and Preservation Department.
4. “The Water Supply of the Maltese Islands” (PDF). Archivum Melitense. VII (1). Malta Historical and Scientific Society (1922).
5. Restoration and Preservation Department. (2024).
