The Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, through the RIDT, has acquired a sponsorship from the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) to the tune of €300,000 to undertake the conservation and restoration of the Nymphaeum at the Argotti Botanical Gardens. This elaborately decorated garden structure, and the Gardens, fall under the care of the University of Malta.
The Nymphaeum is one of Malta’s most interesting examples of Baroque Garden architecture and is prominently situated at the entrance to the Argotti Gardens. It is internally decorated with elaborate mosaics including the Coat of Arms of Knight Argote y Guzmán. Embedded in the plastered surface are decorative mosaics made of coloured stone, marble, shell, coral and obsidian; even the plaster is in different colours – from red to black. The floor is paved with hand-painted majolica tiles that probably depict the Nymphaeum.
The Nymphaeum once formed a focal point of an extensive garden complex which has only partially survived and is therefore an important witness to a past landscape that has largely disappeared. Two knights in particular are associated with the development of the Gardens. Manoel Pinto de Fonseca laid out and owned the villa and gardens that were to develop into what are known today as the Argotti Gardens. Around the time that he was elected Grand Master in 1741, the gardens appear to have been passed on to Bailiff Ignatius de Argote, who extended and embellished the gardens, and whose name they still carry. The main villa that was associated with the gardens was demolished in the early 19th century to allow for the building of the Methodist Church, known today as the Robert Sammut Hall. The two buildings that survive in the garden complex are a garden lodge that was probably built for entertaining guests, and the Nymphaeum.
Unfortunately, the Nymphaeum has been neglected over the years and is currently in a very damaged state, in particular the mosaics, but also some of the structure itself; misguided interventions in the past have also not helped the situation.
The project currently under way aims at stabilising and conserving the structure, plaster and mosaics, and understanding the best possible way to present it once again to the public, regaining a gem of our heritage which was almost lost.
The Department is working closely with the Department of Conservation and Restoration of the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government which is managing the permissions to conserve and restore this singular garden structure, which is Grade 1 listed building, and with the Argotti Botanic Gardens & Resource Centre, who are both sincerely thanked for their support. Discussions are also under way with the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences to help plan the best eventual presentation of the site to visitors. Special thanks are extended to the RIDT for their regular and active support of conservation projects undertaken by the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, and to the MTA for their very generous sponsorship.
