San Anton Gardens, the garden of Malta's presidential palace

In a country that is mostly stone, sun and bastion, San Anton Gardens are one of the few places with proper shade. They surround the official residence of the President of the Republic in Attard, and Visit Malta calls them probably the best known of the islands’ gardens. I think they make a calm visit, the kind you’re grateful for halfway through a trip.

A Grand Master’s palace turned President’s home

The Office of the President tells the story. In the early 17th century the knight Antoine de Paule had a country villa here, in the village of Attard, with Balzan and Lija close by. On his election as Grand Master in 1623 he enlarged it into a palace with gardens and named it after his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. Visit Malta adds that De Paule, who also founded Paola in 1626, wanted a residence closer to Valletta than Verdala Palace, and staffed it with a household that included food tasters, torch bearers, a winder of the clocks and a baker for the black bread fed to his hunting dogs.

Then came Grand Masters Vilhena and Rohan with their additions, and the British era, with the neo-classical chapel the Office of the President calls Russian, by George Whitmore. In 1798 it was headquarters of the Maltese National Assembly during the uprising against the French, then home to Alexander Ball and the British governors, and Princess Victoria Melita, daughter of Prince Alfred, was born there. Queen Elizabeth II stayed in one of its wings. Since Malta became a republic in December 1974, it has been the President’s official residence.

What you’ll see in San Anton Gardens

The Office of the President explains that gardens surround the palace on all sides and that one of them, now run by a government department, has been open to the public since 1885. The layout is geometric, with fountains and exedras where the paths cross, and orange and other citrus trees, whose fruit was sent as a gift to distinguished visitors.

Visit Malta describes a formal garden with rustic touches, with mature trees, old stone urns, fountains, ponds and flower beds. It lists jacarandas, Norfolk pines, bougainvillea and roses. What I like most is a very diplomatic detail, the plaques marking trees planted by visiting heads of state.

What you can see of the palace from outside

As far as I know the palace isn’t open inside, but you can appreciate it from the garden. The Office of the President highlights its square tower, which gives it the look of a fortress, and its arched loggias, and Visit Malta mentions the private chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Pilar, its vault decorated with Grand Masters’ coats of arms. One detail to close the circle. De Paule himself isn’t buried here but in Valletta, in a mausoleum in the Chapel of the Langue of Provence at St John’s Co-Cathedral, according to Visit Malta.

Horticulture and open-air theatre

According to Visit Malta, the gardens host the annual horticultural show, and in summer the large central court becomes an open-air theatre for drama and music. Its nightlife guide mentions open-air Shakespeare in July, which will ring a bell for anyone who’s sat through a summer production in a British park. I have no sourced 2027 dates, so if you want to plan around a performance, keep an eye on Malta events nearer the time.

Hours, prices and getting there

I have to be straight here. Neither the Office of the President nor Visit Malta publishes opening hours or prices on the pages I read, and the ones going around come from private guides I don’t use as sources. First thing in the morning you shouldn’t have any trouble, but late in the afternoon I’d check first.

By bus, the official route list shows two services that end in Attard, the 54 and the 106. Some hop-on hop-off buses, according to their operator, include San Anton on their northern route with Mdina and Ta’ Qali.

I’d pair it with the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village, in the same area, or with Mdina, a few kilometres away. A morning of garden and an afternoon of stone is a good balance.