One of the’invisible’ features of our architecture, which most Maltese don’t know about at all, is not actually Maltese but a rare heritage from Malta’s Arab period – the ‘muxrabija’, a stone or wooden box on the facade of a house overlooking the door, which allowed the occupants to see who was below, without being seen.
The earliest version of the muxrabija in Maltese architecture dates to the late Middle Ages. The muxrabija is a Mediterranean feature and its earliest records date back to the seventh century in the Middle East. They were developed around the Middle East and North Africa, mainly to cool the building interior by allowing the breeze to circulate through the trellis-work. The most common ‘muxrabiji’ are a wooden frame protruding out beyond a small window which was completely covered, leaving peepholes in the front, sides and bottom of the box. This allowed the person on the inside to observe outside, and yet not being visible to the people on the street. At the time, Islamic traditional society was completely dominated by men and women were not allowed to socialise with the world outside. So, practically the ‘muxrabija’ was a safe window to the outside world for women at the time as well as being used as a cooling device for water storage and as a security measure to see who was at the door or on the approaching roads.
In Maltese architecture, the ‘muxrabija’ is of particular interest as the ‘muxrabija’ and roundels – round motifs sculpted on building facades – are our only two architectural features that derive directly from contacts with the Arab world in Medieval times. The earliest version of the ‘muxrabija’ in Malta dates back to the late Middle Ages (1300-1400) though it is not known whether the Maltese variant came directly from North Africa, or though the Arab occupation of Sicily.
The muxrabiji that are found in the Maltese Islands carry distinct characteristics, namely, that due to the lack of trees in Malta, the older ones are constructed in local limestone, however more recent ones made out of timber are more common than the stone version. They are small in size and often carry a crude shape and rather simplistic design, which was probably meant to make it harder to spot, adding to its surveillance potential. The ‘muxrabija’ would be positioned on the first floor of the facade overlooking the main door and the viewing peepholes vary from holes in the front, sides and bottom of the box structure, to louvre-like slits.
The names given to this structure vary too, as besides ‘muxrabija’ they are known as ‘in-nemmiesa’, ‘x-xerriefa’ H and in Gozo, ‘l-kixxiefa’ or ‘lkixxijìja’. Finally ‘il-ġlusija’ or ‘il-ġelusija’ is reminiscent of ‘jalousie’, the French word for louvre.
The ‘muxrabiji’ that carry a security component are most commonly found in the villages whose inhabitants lived away from the safety of Mdina and fortified cities around the harbour area. This is evident in the geographic distribution of the surviving examples, which tend to be found on isolated farmhouses or villages.
One of the strangest ‘muxrabiji’ can be found in Tal-Karmnu Street, Victoria Gozo, in the ’Mandragg’ area, the Arab quarters of Victoria. Another one can be found on the roof of 84, Santu Rokku Street, Birkirkara. The house where the well-known Censu Borg (Brared) used to reside during the French rule in Malta. This is a stone ‘muxrabija’ with a decorative style incorporated to it.
Some of the ‘muxrabiji’ found around Malta and Gozo:
– Tal-Karmnu Street, Victoria Gozo
– Sqaq il-Qajjied, Siggiewi
– Santu Rokku Street, Birkirkara
– Ta’ Ghammar, Gozo
– Il-Knisja Street, Gharb
– Doni Street, Rabat Malta
– Ta’ Monita, Marsascala
Other locations include Balzan, Lija, Naxxar, Qrendi, Qormi, Siġġiewi, Żabbar, Żebbug and Żejtun in Malta and in Għasri, and San Lawrenz in Gozo. ‘Muxrabiji’ are not the only notable feature of these scheduled properties as other period features typical of Maltese architecture are usually also found within the interior of the buildings where they are found.
In some places, the Arab term ‘mashrabiyah’ also refers to balconies having intricately designed screens. These are found mainly in Egypt and were an important status symbol for the owners of the houses to which they were attached. Although the Maltese ‘muxrabiji’ lack the decorative features of the North African versions, they are no less part of our architectural and ethnic heritage.
Astrid Vella
References:
IL-MUXRABIJA, WIRT L-ISLAM FIL-GŻEJJER MALTIN, Dr. C.J. Jaccarini MD, FRCP, DCh.
https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20161130/local/properties-featuring-rare-muxrabija-feature-scheduled.632498
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