The Opera House & Strada Reale
The Opera House (Teatro Reale) was a famous building
in Valletta which was bombed & completely destroyed.
My father was in this building the previous night.
The ruins can still be found just inside the main gate going into Valletta
100 metres on the right. All the stones from this building were collected
& are still in storage.
On the 25th May 1873 a large fire destroyed the building.
The heat was so intense it was feared that it would set off ammunition stored
in nearby barracks & stores.
A photo of this fire can be found in the book 'Malta & British Army Infantry
Regiments' by J.Bonnici & M.Cassar page 57.
Photo taken in May 1936. Photo courtesy of Norman Tarrant.
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Photo courtesy of Dave Charles |
Looking from main gate
into Valletta. The Opera House is shown on the right. This image is
from an old postcard. |
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Taken probably 1930's.
The steps no longer exist. |
Porta Reale entrance
from the gate with Opera House on the right. Probably taken 1930's. |
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Porta Reale entrance
from the gate with Opera House on the right. Probably taken 1930's. |
Religious procession
passing the Opera House towards Porta Reale. |
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Opera House steps. Unknown date
but possibly pre WWI |
Opera House from the air pre WWII |
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Photo courtesy of Jason Pisani & Charlie Grima. |
Taken pre-WWII (1930's)
inside the Opera House. Production of 'The Mikado' |
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Taken the day before the bombing |
After raid |
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Unknown when this was taken but obviously after the raid & clearing up of debris. |
Taken after raid. This photo & the one to the right brought back by my father who was in the Opera House the night before the raid. |
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How it looks now. Two photos I took in 2006. |
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Two photos I took of the inside as it looks in 2007 from the old entrance door. |
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Sculpture from ruins. |
