File:Pietà waterfront 1928.jpg

English: Pietà waterfront 1928

Villa Frere at the far left and Salvatore Xerri's exquisite mansion next door. In sharp contrast are the contiguous row of humble buildings ancillary to the Villa Frere estate including the direct public access to the gardens via the Grand Staircase which climbed up all the way through the Royal Gazebo and onwards to the Neoclassical Tempietto. These low structures and the entrance were in more recent times demolished and replaced by apartment blocks. The building at far right is Sion House which still exists. At the centre, behind the low buildings we can see Villa Hay, almost completely covered in ivy whilst Giardino Zamittello's Tower of Four Winds stands as a sentinel, dominating the skyline.

So much cultural heritage hailed from this place including social history, architecture, art, literature, philology and horticulture, alas a place which 95 years since this photograph was taken is sadly under heightened threat from dreadful planning, wrong priorities and avarice. Hopefully what survives of Villa Frere and its context (declared a national monument in 2020) shall, not least thanks to its volunteers and supporters, survive well into the future. (Edward Said)