Outdoor Areas

August 2, 2024 – Published in Design & Decor Spring-Summer 2024 issue

Stone Menagerie at Palazzo D’Aurel

Words Michael Trapani Galea Feriol

Photography Matthew  Mirabelli

Whilst meandering through the passageways of the gardens of Palazzo D’Aurel, Gudja, family home to the Barony of San Marciano, one stumbles upon a number of animals ranging from a pack of five dogs, a pair of horses, copious cats and too many peacocks to count. However, there is yet another menagerie which adopts a far more static poise. It is that of exotic animals each carved from stone.

Baroness Bettina Moscati Dorell (sive Dorel or later, D’Aurel), the family ancestor credited in having embellished and decorated the property to make it what it is today, lived a privileged life witnessing the pivotal, brief two-year French occupation, 1798 - 1800. During her younger years she served as a ‘lady in waiting’ to Queen Maria Cristina of Naples. Bettina was fortunate to have witnessed the heyday of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, at a time when Charles, the first Bourbon and later the King of Spain, transformed the city to become both a social and intellectual hub of Europe. From this invaluable exposure Bettina nurtured a deep fondness for formal gardens and entertaining.

The stone menagerie was one of many installations commissioned by Bettina which assisted in making the garden tour a more colourful one. 

A centre passageway is caressed on both flanks by beasts of local limestone, placed intermittently amongst stone flower pots, also capped with ‘stone flora’ whilst all surmounting a string of balustrades. 

When viewing these crude but yet ornate carvings, one must not forget that they were likely to have been crafted from second or third-hand loose sketches and verbal descriptions, for only very few were so privileged to have seen such exotic creatures from lands afar. 

Despite the intriguing inaccuracies in anatomy one can clearly recognise a hippo, lion, giraffe, buffalo, antelope, monkeys, cats and interestingly enough two dogs; one closely resembling a maltese terrier and the other the local ‘tal-kacca’.

The end of this fifteen metre walkway opens up to a circular encapsulating seating arrangement where one may seek refuge in the plentiful shade under a pair of adjacent pine trees. One is greeted by the very same three backed-benches and central table as the ones used by Bettina and her esteemed guests. 

Over the years a number of respected figures have been entertained to tea here; amongst them Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton after word was brought to Nelson just after his victory on the Nile, that Malta was asking for help from the British in evicting the French. 

Incidentally due to its strategic advantage and connections, in 1800 Palazzo D’Aurel served as the first British headquarters during the French Blockade. Lord George Gordon Byron and later on, King Edward VIII were also privy to entertainment at this same spot. 

During World War II the property was requisitioned and again served as a military base. Officers were residing in the palazzo whilst the garden’s historic olive grove offered shelter to nine hundred men from the Hampshire, Cheshire and later the Devon & Dorset regiments, in make-shift temporary structures. 

Luckily the family had removed this entire stone assembly in anticipation of what was to come and miraculously very little heavy damage was inflicted on the property, despite two large bombs and continuous shrapnel.

Having endured all weather conditions for two and a quarter centuries, the textures and intricacies have adopted a rich and charming patina. One stops to think; ‘if only they could talk’! On exiting this intense all-stone feast, one addresses a stone bench bearing the arms of Galea Feriol, the family who still cares for and curates this gem for further generations to enjoy.