The Mall

The Mall is a promenade of 400 yards lined with trees and ponds. It was built by Grandmaster Lascaris in 1656 for the recreation of the Knights. Until the year 1942, the gardens were enclosed by high walls but, after the war, these walls were replaced by a lower boundary wall with iron railings to be visible from the street. The name “Mall” is derived from a then popular game (Maglio) practiced by the Knights, which consisted of a fairly large wooden sphere which had to be pushed along a path (Golf style) by a heavy mallet, the winner being the one who reaches the target with a pre-determined number of strokes. Nine monuments commemorating prominent Maltese personalities are located along this garden. The Mall lies along an axis stretching from Fort St Elmo at the tip of Valletta, along Republic Street, along the Mall and on to St Philip Bastion. The garden was opened to the public by Sir Alexander Ball, Governor of Maltese Islands, in the name of King George III.