This is a house in Merchants’ Street. It has been abandoned and forgotten as have many beautiful buildings in Valletta. Many of these houses are huge and cost a fortune to maintain. Not many people can afford to live on such a grand scale any more. So most of these houses, or perhaps I should say mansions, now rot away slowly before our eyes. Shops have been opened on the ground floor of many of them but it seems that the upper storeys are left to fall into disrepair. It is a shame because these stately houses boast of some very beautiful Baroque architecture. My hope is that one day private or public funds will be donated to restore these buildings to their former glory. Meanwhile, I will continue to gaze in awe at their crumbling facades and imagine them as they used to be whilst freezing them forever in this moment in time with my camera.
Sepia sure suits this abandoned mansion well. All those lovely architectural details on the outside make me curious about what the interior looks like.
ReplyDeleteThe buildings look amazing in sepia! Detail architecture showing through!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the money to restore a place like that and make it my home! It is so sad that so many places now have gotten to this same state of disrepair.
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely in sepia. Would have been interesting to see them in their time of glory and what activities would have been taking place.
ReplyDeleteWe have the same here in Brussels. Now the city tries to restore and sell them as appartments.
ReplyDeleteCatching up on your pics, they are gorgeous. I do enjoy visiting.
ReplyDeleteI so agree, it is really a shame, there is so much potential in that city, it could be so very beautiful if only it was cared for as the historic city it is. Of course I do like the rustic warn look but it is sad to see so many houses crumbling down from neglect.
ReplyDeleteSome of the beautiful houses in the main shopping street of Antwerp are in the same state. This post also reminded me of Lisboa, I saw it there too. We have our cameras to preserve some of that grandeur, other than that there is not much we can do I'm afraid! * sigh*
ReplyDeleteOh I love those sepia photos...
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