A free roof garden
Public space with a harbour view, rare in a wholly built-up city.
EnriqueTabone — CC BY-SA 4.0 · EnriqueTabone — CC BY-SA 4.0 · EnriqueTabone — CC BY-SA 4.0 · EnriqueTabone — CC BY-SA 4.0
A centre for design and craft in the old municipal abattoir building in the lower district of Valletta, opened in the early 2020s after an extensive restoration. The building is half the story. Il-Biċċerija was the city's slaughterhouse in the nineteenth century, then stood abandoned and decaying for decades in what was the poorest quarter of the capital. Turning it into a public space was part of a wider effort to revive the lower reaches of Valletta, which the tourist attention concentrated in the upper streets had passed by. The cluster holds workshops and shared working space for designers and makers, a community kitchen, and a roof garden open to everyone with a view over the harbour. The roof garden is what matters most to a visitor: a free public space with a view, which is rare in a city that is built up in its entirety. Practical points: entry to the public areas and the roof garden is free. The workshops are private working spaces for their residents, not exhibitions. Hours may be limited — check before going.
Public space with a harbour view, rare in a wholly built-up city.
Lower Valletta was the poorest, and the project is part of reviving it.
The workshops hold working designers — do not expect displays.
The old abattoir, lower Valletta
The restored building, its courtyards and the roof garden with its view. Sometimes exhibitions, events or a design market depending on the programme. But the workshops themselves are private working spaces, so do not enter expecting displays. Go for the building, the roof and the district around it.
Yes, and the walk is part of the reason. The streets drop steeply towards the harbour and change character: less crowded, more residential and more honest than the main street. Combine it with Fort St Elmo and the harbour front in one route.
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