Zammitello gardens earmarked for nine-storey hotel

Developers have presented plans for a nine-storey high, four-star hotel along the Pietà seafront on a property which includes the 200-year-old Zamittello gardens.

This represents a second attempt to redevelop the site, after an earlier application to develop a home for the elderly was withdrawn. The application also presented by Landgate Ltd was met by more than 50 objections presented by Pietà residents.

The objectors included the Friends of Villa Frère who had called on the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage to issue a conservation order to protect the garden, which they fear would also compromise the adjoining Villa Frère.

In the new application, an existing tower, a domed exedra and the main parts of the elevated walkway located in the Villa Ciantar garden, will be “retained and restored”. But plans foresee the excavation of a substantial part of the garden to make way for a spa and gym and an overlying external pool area. The project also includes an underground multi-level carpark, a cafeteria and restaurant, a business centre, a spa and a gym.

The late 18th century garden once belonged to Giuseppe Nicola Zammit, a man of letters and a judge who served in official posts under the Order of St John and the British. Knighted in 1818, he was appointed in various prominent positions by governor Thomas Maitland.

Upon his death Maitland also commissioned a grand monument commemorating Zammit, which is found in the Upper Barrakka Gardens.