Argotti Botanic Garden, Malta (MT)

History of the town and its founder

At the suggestion of Pope Urban VIII, Grand Master Antoine de Paule commissioned the Italian military engineer Pietro Paolo Floriani to design additional fortifications for the capital, Valletta.

This led to the construction of the Floriana Lines, including St James’s Bastion, on which the Argotti Gardens were later laid out.

The gardens on St James’s Bastion originally belonged to the Bailiff of Acre, Don Emmanuel Pinto de Fonseca, and the Bailiff Ignatius de Argote y Gusman. When Pinto was elected Grand Master of the Order of St John in 1741, Argote acquired the entire estate. Argote had a new gate built for the gardens, which still serves as the main entrance today.

He also built an ornamental grotto, known as the „Nymphaeum“, the interior of which was once entirely lined with rustic rocks, pieces of red coral, calcite crystals, shells and colourful pebbles.

In 1674, Dr Giuseppe Zammit laid out a medicinal herb garden in the moat of Fort St Elmo, known as „Il Giardino dei Semplici“. The collection of plants was eventually moved to various gardens in Floriana, until, in 1855, under the supervision of Stefano Zerafa, Professor of Natural History, it found its permanent home in the Argotti Gardens. This marked the beginning of the site’s history as the Argotti Botanical Garden.

The site’s fortification architecture

The Argotti Botanical Gardens are situated directly on the 17th-century St James’s Bastion, a key defensive element of the outer fortifications known as the „Floriana Lines“, which were designed to protect Valletta. Visitors can see how the botanical gardens blend with the historic masonry, including original architectural features such as the 18th-century Argotti entrance gate and the ornate Nymphaeum Grotto.