San Anton Gardens
San Anton Palace (Maltese: Il-Palazz Sant'Anton) is a palace in Attard, Malta that currently serves as the official residence of the President of Malta. It was originally built in the early 17th century as a country villa for Antoine de Paule, a knight of the Order of St. John. It was expanded into a palace following de Paule's election as Grand Master in 1623.
The palace was used as a residence by subsequent Grand Masters, being enlarged a number of times in the process. It was the headquarters of the rebel National Assembly during the uprising of 1798–1800, and it later became a residence for the Civil Commissioners, Governors and Governors-General of Malta. It has been the official residence of the President since the office was created in December 1974.The palace is surrounded by the extensive San Anton Gardens, parts of which have been open to the public since 1882.
The gardens are laid out in a formal manner, with graceful walkways, sculptures, ornamental ponds with families of ducks, swans and turtles, and a small aviary.
The gardens contain a large variety of trees and flowers from around the world, including a variety of palm trees, cypress, jacarandas, araucarias and other exotic plants, some of them over three centuries old. For many years it has been customary for visiting heads of state to plant a tree in memory of their stay in Malta. The gardens also contain an orangery, and it was once the practice of incumbent Governors to give baskets of oranges grown in the palace gardens as gifts at Christmas time.
The San Anton Gardens contain a number of fountains. One is decorated with a statue which was relocated from Argotti Gardens.
Parts of the gardens were first opened to the public in the early 19th century by Admiral Sir Alexander Ball. They were enriched by General The 1st Marquess of Hastings, the second Governor of Malta, in the 1820s. Lord Hastings, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, had previously served as Governor-General of India. The gardens were reopened to the public in 1882.