10 April 2012:  Sorry for any inconvenience. These pages are being reconstructed. Normal service soon!

For nearly 70 years the former Royal Opera House has been a well-known and highly visible bombsite at the entrance to Malta’s capital city.

Once the home of one of the most respected theatre venues in the Mediterranean region, the Royal Opera House in Malta’s capital had a bizarre existence.

The first Opera House, completed in the 1860′s, was gutted by fire in circumstances that remains a Maltese mystery to this very day.

From the ashes a new opulent Royal Opera House rose once again and opened for business in October 1877. Sixty-five years later, on the evening of Tuesday April 7 1942 the venue was virtually destroyed by German bombers.

From the post-war years right up till very recently the fate of the Opera House site and its status has been in question. Plans, ideas and architectural designs were frequently suggested but all that has remained is the remnants of the once famous theatre and a reminder of war of which Malta suffered so badly (image: one of the oldest World War Two bombsites in Europe – the remains of the Opera House at the entrance to Malta’s ancient capital city, Valletta. Currently work is underway to start the major construction that will transform and rejuvenate this part of the city).

In 2008 it looked like the actual theatre status of this bombsite would be removed in preference to a Maltese Parliamentary building. However nine months later that plan was reversed and now thankfully theatre will return as the former Royal Opera House is reconstructed and redeveloped as a brand-new theatre venue for Malta.

The new building (see below) will be a step away from convention. Designs show an open-air structure incorporating remains of the former Victorian structure. In a way, a modern venue with a permanent, very sad and poignant reminder of the former building and especially of the supreme and devastating sacrifice made by the citizens of Malta during World War Two.

These are exciting times for Valletta as the city is set to have considerable regeneration and of course the Opera House bombsite is part of that redevelopment as a new theatre is reinstated.

So this website will follow current developments, plans and ideas as the former Royal Opera House will rise from the ashes of wartime destruction to become a new major venue for Malta and the thousands who visit these Mediterranean islands each year.

If you have friends or family who were in any way associated with the Opera House before the Second World War or if you have any images you would like to contribute to this developing work, we would be only too pleased to hear from you, and with your permission would like to publish and add to the archive here online.

You can read the full story about the architect’s recommendations and watch an interview about his vision here

‘Giving Valletta its dignity back’ – Noel Grima looks at the future of Malta’s ancient capital city, here