Silence and Darkness, the loving eternal couple, are out on their nocturnal stroll.
Flaking , ancient walls reaching proudly towards the heavens, hold up the royal canopy, intricately woven out of the silver and navy blue hues that colour Malta's summer sky over their heads.
Their satin and velvet clad regal feet make no sound as they softly touch the aging polished hard-stone or its close imitation , that carpets the heart of this seemingly Arab maze of tortuous streets and alleys, so heavily imbued by a touch of the surreal. Elegant but humble house facades rub shoulders with magnificent palaces or what's left of them, while a myriad of architecturally different doorways with their versatile door knobs constantly compete with each other to tell their own stories in their worldly but wordless way.
I am sitting at the bottom of a beautiful flight of steps that leads to the Collacchio in Birgu, in the dead of night, while the city sleeps and past and present, with their particular ghosts and shadows, merge into one startling reality. I could just as well have been sitting at the foot of a similar flight of steps in the heart of enchanting Bormla or splendid Senglea. The effect would have been similar if not the same....a feeling of nostalgia, of pride, of deep shameless love for our Islands particularly for this Southern spot of magnificence, presently being rediscovered and appreciated, but still cruelly abandoned by most of us too much and for too long.
Though I hail from the South, I must admit that I really discovered the gem that is Cottonera quite late in life. When I was a child my family didn’t have a car and even going to Valletta by bus was an ordeal since I suffered badly from motion sickness. So Birgu for me meant the Monument tal-Helsien on 31 March or rather 30th at night, Bormla meant il-Kuncizzjoni , il-Knisja and a ‘Kinnie mill-kazin tal-Labour' followed by a visit to my great aunt's house close to it, and L-Isla meant ir-Redentur where my mother insisted to take me and my sisters to pray 'biex ma tafx kif nghaddu mill-ezamijiet'.
I find it strange that as a child, always in a state school, Cottonera was never included as a destination for one of our cultural outings. If it was I must have forgotten it completely or maybe missed it. In those days paying for an outing wasn't always a priority and I do remember skipping a couple school tours, rather than having to ask my mum for money.
In any case, my point is that Our Three Cities are unmatched in the Mediterranean.
The Croatian Port Cities of Dubrovnik and Kotor, ancient Venetian outposts that are also jewels in the crown of this bewitching expanse of water, are extremely beautiful, culturally rich and well kept, in spite of the former's recent involvement in another painful war. They are literally inundated with tourists all year round but especially in summer.
However, while we wish them well, we must stop and think how much we can increase our own cultural tourism presence all year round , if we had to really converge and focus our efforts in the all round rehabilitation and restoration of Cottonera.
In recent years great aesthetic and other improvements have been registered in these localities, particularly in Birgu which was lucky enough to have Mr Boxall, one of its sons, as a longstanding mayor who lovingly mobilised a whole community to make the best of his council's scanty resources.
However, when one compares the multitude of visitors to Dubrovnik , or closer to home, the masses in Sliema and St Julian’s with its concomitant commercial activity, one still wonders why the most precious Jewel of all, that is Cottonera, is as we speak not given ample and due recognition, and promoted sufficiently as it deserves to be.
If you had to ask me for a quick solution, I would instantly tell you that we should be seeking ways and means to further financially empower deserving and achieving local councils, instead of discussing their potential demise.
We should be seriously considering ways and means to improve accessibility even by promoting more strongly the crossing by sea facilities that already exist and extending the hours of service. Direct crossing service facilities from Sliema to Cottonera should be encouraged and strengthened even by the provision of better mooring facilities to sea craft that make regular Harbour cruises but that do not stop in the different Harbour Cities. This would enable instant sharing of commercial activity through easier access, and a consequent joining up of the two splendid promenades.
In Birgu I would also restore the beautiful open space in front of St Lawrence Church leading down to the Marina, by relocating our beloved Monument tal-Helsien to a more appropriate location in Vittoriosa.
That could be just a kick-start to a long-standing, but more local than national effort.
Restoring and exploiting the unmatched potential of what we have first... projects akin to White Rocks which devour more of our land...maybe ...later.
Cottonera is our history and identity cast in stone. It has survived and is surviving human battles and battles between humans and what they stand for. And through the ordeal of its turbulent past and changing present, even as it bled while watching its sons seek residence elsewhere, it has remained to this day the cradle and loyal keeper of the roots of our traditions and culture.
On 10 August, Birgu celebrates the Feast of St Lawrence. I urge you to pay it a visit... Start with the exquisite seat of the local band society and ask the locals about the significance of individual street decorations, Church ornaments and paintings, and the array of flags and pelmets emblazoned with coats of arms that decorate this Noble gem, then to St Lawrence Church built at the same time as the Cathedral of Mdina... Then proceed to pay homage to our forefathers who defended our future to their last breath during the Great Siege... and wars that followed...