Lija Belvedere Tower

Lija Belvedere Tower

View of the Lija Belvedere Tower
General information
Status Intact
Type Folly
Architectural style Neoclassic
Location Lija, Malta
Named for Lija
Completed 19th century
Owner Government of Malta
Technical details
Material Limestone
Design and construction
Architect Giuseppe Bonavia

The Lija Belvedere Tower, officially Torri Belvedere, is a belvedere in Lija, Malta. It was built in the 19th century as a folly within a private garden, and it is now located on a roundabout.

History

Villa Gourigon

The belvedere tower was built in 1857 as a folly within the gardens of Villa Gourigon, a 17th-century villa which belonged to the Marquis Depiro.[1] It was designed by the architect Giuseppe Bonavia.[2]

In the 1950s, part of the villa's garden was destroyed to make way for Transfiguration Avenue. The belvedere was retained as a roundabout, and it is now one of Lija's landmarks.[3]

The tower was restored in 1995 and 1996, and it is listed as a Grade 1 property by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lija Belvedere.
  1. ↑ "Villa Gourgion" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Villa Gourgion and the Lija Belvedere". user.orbit.net.mt. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 "MEPA to safeguard vistas to Lija Belvedere Tower". MEPA. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2015.

Coordinates: 35°54′7.1″N 14°26′55.4″E / 35.901972°N 14.448722°E / 35.901972; 14.448722

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