The Triton Fountain is the central feature in City Gate

City Gate (Malta)

City Gate - also known as Putirjal in Maltese - is the main entrance to Malta's capital city, Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is most commonly called Bieb il-Belt, "Door to the city"....

 Square, Valletta

Valletta

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...

, capital of the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 island of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. This square also serves as the island's central bus terminus.

The Triton Fountain was sculpted by local sculptor Vincent Apap in 1959.
To the southside of the fountain is the Malta Memorial

Malta Memorial

The Malta Memorial is a commemorative war memorial monument to the 2,298 Commonwealth aircrew who lost their lives in the various Second World War air battles and engagements around the Mediterranean, and who have no known grave....

, a commemorative monument for the 2,298 Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 aircrew who lost their lives in the various Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 air battles

Aerial warfare

Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...

 and engagements around the Mediterranean, and who were left unburied.

In 1978, the plate on top of the fountain was damaged, after the Malta Labour Party, who was at that time in government, organized song festivals on top of the fountain. The same fountain was left in a dilapidated state for years until the change of Government in 1987.
On April 30, 2011, without any consultation with the public, the arts community and NGOs, the Government of Malta announced that it was moving the fountain from its present location in front of the entrance to the capital city Valletta. The Minister for Transport Dr. Austin Gatt declared that the fountain had to be moved a few metres in order to create an open space that will complement the new city gate project designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. The same Minister implied that Renzo Piano had made the recommendation to shift the Triton Fountain away from Valletta’s entrance to restore “the architectural and historical context of the entrance to the fortified city”, The proposal is controversial in that the Triton fountain is considered an iconic Maltese monument and its creator Vincent Apap was one of the more relevant Maltese visual artists of the 20th century.It also is symbolic of the era in which Maltese statehood emerges out of centuries of colonial domination. Further controversy lies in the fact that the fountain will be moved some fifty metres to the back sandwiched between two other monuments, that of the iconic Christ the King by renowned Maltese artist Antonio Sciortino and the Royal air force monument (Malta Memorial). The suggested relocation implies that the fountain will not function as a fountain anymore and that it will lose some of the present structures attached to it. Furthermore, it is believed that the fountain's relocation will aesthetically downgrade the two other monuments already in place at the intended relocation site. The move is considered controversial in that it is seen as a snub to Maltese visual art particularly to Apap, an eminent artist of the Modern period. Local experts such as Robert Cassar, curator of the Palace armoury in Valletta have also voiced their concern regarding the proposed move insisting that if moved the bronze monument will be damaged. Cassar claims that the fountain is connected to a series of concrete channels, tunnels and reservoirs that are part and parcel of what is visible above ground indicating that technical considerations might have been overlooked in suggesting the move. Cassar implies that in reality in order to be moved the fountain has to be destroyed.

Before placing the Tritons in this new location, at the side garden where the Royal Airforce War Memorial is situated, studies will be conducted on the best way to treat and restore the fountain to its original glory reversing the considerable damage it has suffered over time as a result of pollution as well as the notorious incident when the fountain was unwisely and harmfully used as a performance platform.To date the Ministry responsible has however not announced any such studies to the local media.Considering that this is a sensitive cultural issue this apparent lack of regard for the collective conscious has not been received positively.This is the second time that the Renzo Piano project for Valletta has engendered controversy. Piano's plans for a roofless theatre on the site of the former Royal Opera house designed by Edward_Middleton_Barry that was destroyed in World War II by German bombing alienated the Maltese creative community. Led by eminent Philosopher Fr. Peter Serracino Inglott, the artistic community questioned the practicality of a roofless theatre that would have limited usability. Furthermore the artistic community felt that Piano's plans for the theatre articulated a disregard for the Maltese collective conscious in which the Opera House featured as the cultural hub of the capital Valletta.

The Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications is also publishing a commentary by the architect’s studio about the recommendation to move the fountain by less than 50 meters as part of the effort to restore the architectural and historical context of the entrance to the fortified city. It should be noted that the Tritons Fountain was first installed in its present location to decorate the bus terminus that is located at the entrance to the city in place of the original fortifications and ramparts that were removed to make way for transport infrastructure. The present bus terminus becomes redundant on the 3rd July. The following is a commentary by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop: “The Tritons’ fountain in front of City Gate can be considered the final touch in a series of Colonial period projects aimed at improving accessibility to and mobility in and around Valletta. These projects, which included the construction of a lift at the Upper Barrakka and the operation of a railway that linked the town with the centre of the island, continued to be maintained and upgraded all throughout the twentieth century. In fact, these are the years that saw the gradual modernization of the islands especially in terms of transportation and communications technologies, an evolution which was an imperative especially in view of the role that Malta played as a military base. The military justification for these improvements was accompanied with advancements in transport and communication systems that were put in place for the enjoyment of the civilian population. The introduction of the tramway and, eventually, the bus system, was accompanied by the increased use of the private car and the construction of roads became one of the topmost priorities of several successive governments. The creation of the plaza in front of City Gate, which entailed the burial and partial annihilation of the outer works of the landward fortification system, belongs to this period which also saw the great ‘sventramenti’ of the old village cores which irrevocably destroyed the authentic context of several of our parish churches. The present project for the re-organization of the transport system reverses the Modernist obsession with progress at the expense of preservation. It aims at providing an efficient and comfortable transport system that is sustainable, as invisible as possible, and one that minimizes the deleterious effects of pollution. To this end, the plaza in front of City Gate is being liberated from the scores of buses which hitherto constituted the first impression of Valletta for anyone visiting the town. Needless to say, the superimposition of the Terminus in the early twentieth century took no notice of the conservation needs of the town, and the addition of the Tritons’ fountain can be considered, because of its scale and positioning, as the fulcrum of the old Terminus with no connection to the authentic and historic image of the entrance to Valletta. Today, the evolution of conservation philosophy and legislation on Malta as well as Valletta’s status of World Heritage Site, provide an imperative for the conservation element in the design of the new entrance. One needs to take into account however that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) failed to schedule the fountain as a historical monument worth preserving. It had started the process but for some reason the process was stalled. The repositioning of the Fountain, while paying tribute to the work of Vincent Apap, one of Malta’s foremost sculptors of the Modern Period, will, together with the removal of the buses, free up the vista of the town walls and return the area to its pre-1950s situation. This falls within the general philosophy of the project for the entrance of Valletta which includes the restoration of the sixteenth century bridge spanning the ditch and the reintroduction of the original skyline of the fortification walls. Rather than a civic exercise as Piano described it, many are perceiving this project more as Piano's imposition than a consultation with the citizens of the Maltese islands.
The Ministry responsible is at present appearing to issue conflicting messages on the one hand declaring that Apap's fountain has great value as a public art work which will be retained in spite of its repositioning very close to its original location and on the other hand it wants to place it in a garden connected to the new park of pine trees where its green backdrop the ministry insists, will complement the watery fantasy of these "telamonic sea creatures, part man part fish.” The artistic community fear that the Italian pines that were imported at great cost instead of a backdrop will in reality shield the fountain from view, in effect hiding it.The fountain in its original location, is rightly located as a landmark and work of art. The fountain is part of the central axis that extends from the glacis outside St James Bastion, its spur and garden in Floriana, through the Mall and Independence monument, Christ the King monument and embellishment, the Triton Fountain, City Gate and Bridge, Republic Street and down to the Spur at St Elmo; the concept on which the Renaissance-Baroque capital was built. Mepa's failure to schedule the fountain as a grade 1 protected structure in effect means that this relocation is being simply undertaken to make way for parking space, carnival parades or both. The Mayor of Floriana, Nigel Holland has also expressed his dismay at the proposed move, contesting the reasons given by the Dr. Austin Gatt. Other sections of the arts community are inclined to think that the relocation of the fountain is being undertaken with callous disrespect to Maltese art in order to placate carnival organisers who were evicted from St. Elmo in 2010. The Piano plans for City Gate particularly Piano's plans for the Parliament building have robbed the Carnival of Malta organisers of a space in which to hold the Carnival defile. The float makers have in effect been evicted from Valletta, a city which has always had a strong Carnival tradition since it foundation. It is a pity that the Government chose to further degrade this most European of traditions. Carnival generates a good amount of tourism and its organisers hardly receive any government support for their efforts. Nonetheless, the current PN Government is now keen to try to appease the float makers at the expense of Malta's cultural heritage and collective conscience. The local arts community is viewing this as another example of 'off the cuff' cultural planning which deliberately targets and demeans Maltese cultural icons.