The  historic Wignacourt Fountain at St Philip Garden in Floriana, originally located on Palace Square, Valletta, was the first fountain erected after the building of the Wignacourt aqueduct. It was inaugurated during Eastertide, on April 21, 1615. This beautiful and historic fountain was moved by the British military to St Philip Gardens so the Palace Square could be used for military parades.

The Wignacourt Fountain features a large circular basin with three superimposed seashells - like shaped basins, each one smaller than the one below it, supported on a cone-shaped pedestal with four dolphins with upturned tails or rather what is still left of them.

Regrettably, while MEPA had scheduled the Wignacourt fountain as a Grade 1 national monument in 2008, evidently, it has been neglected and left in a pitiful state, to be defaced by corrosion and to eventually crumble away completely.

A similar fate is shared by the other historic Wignacourt Tower fountain, opposite Sarria Church, Floriana.  

Restoration works are urgently needed to save these historic fountains from further damage before it is too late.

Joe Morana

Sliema