Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1006805
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 baths below the Hotel Fortina and the Jesus of Nazareth church, which were obliterated when the seabed in the area was reclaimed. These consisted of three square baths, identical to the ones still existing in Qui-Si-Sana, with two or three steps cut in the rocks to allow easy access in- to the bath, and another opening lead- ing to the sea. There was also a circular cutting in the rocks, with an opening leading to the open sea, with a round rock in the middle. This was probably used as an additional mooring for the Destroyers/ naval ships anchored in the Tigné area, with Manoel Island on the other side. Others recall that the baths along the Tigné seafront (along the shore oppo- site the end of St Anthony Street) were enclosed in wooden rooms to ensure maximum privacy. "The others, along the shore below the Fortina were not enclosed, at least not in my time approximately 70 years ago. We used to call the area 'Half Way' and the field leading to it 'l-ghalqa tal- fatati' (the field of ghosts). It was all one big field from the desalination plant right up to the barbed wire fencing the barracks," an elderly Sliema woman re- calls. While members of the Dominican order, whose convent was in the vicin- ity of the baths may have used some of these baths, other baths in the Qui-Si- Sana and Tower road area were used by wealthy families. The area known as Exiles in Sliema, which also includes a number of rock- cut baths probably, gets its name from the Russian émigrés who landed in Malta after the 1917 Bolshevik revolu- tion, and who lived in the area. The baths in Birzebbuga are said to have belonged to the Asfar and Cachia Zammit families. Only a couple of baths near Wied il-Buni survive to this day. Other baths had been located near the Waterpolo pitch, under St George's chapel and on the way to Qajjenza. Heritage lost? The heritage value of baths along Fond Ghadir and Qui-Si-Sana and the last surviving ones in Birzebbuga and Valletta has still not been recognised through scheduling by the Planning Authority. A report penned by Geotek Services in 2007 commissioned by the Sliema council documents the threats faced by the rock cut pools and other geological features along the Sliema coast. With reference to the Qui-Si-Sana baths the report warned "the integrity of most of these baths has been dam- aged by winter storms". Erosion and coastal retreat is expected to increase "as more concrete is placed along the coast, thereby reducing coastal friction on wave energy". The baths at Fond Ghadir cut in the globerigina limestone are rapidly eroding and losing their original shape. Apart from the rock-cut pools other bathing areas, including two coves en- closed by sea walls, owe their existence to coastal defence interventions by the Royal Engineers in 1968. These coves have survived wave erosion but one of the sea walls is in a precarious state and has been breached. The chalet platform may have also had a positive effect by subdividing wave energy reaching Ghar id-Dud Bay into two areas while creating an arti- ficial headland where sea wave energy dissipates. The report recommended the con- struction of wave energy dissipation structures like offshore seawalls and small concrete piles aimed at protect- ing the rocky coast without altering the natural outcrops. It also concludes that rock excavations of historical value are showing signs rapid erosion and re- quire protection. NEWS The story told by the baths may be related with the "invention" of the seaside as a leisure venue associated with the health benefits of bathing, by the British landed gentry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES BIANCHI