page_title: San Anton Palace
section_title: Gardens
hierarchical_section_title: San Anton Palace / Gardens
caption_attribution_description: English: San Anton Gardens in Attard, Malta
context_page_description: San Anton Palace 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.
context_section_description: Although the palace's architecture is not that remarkable, the main attraction is the San Anton Gardens. The gardens are laid out in a formal manner, with graceful walkways, sculptures, ornamental ponds with families of ducks and swans, 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.
caption: San Anton Gardens
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2013:05:12 11:31:25", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "221", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "8503", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8615", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5705", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "22", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:03:04 11:25:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:03:04 11:25:14", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "43/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "9", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "40", "EXIF SubSecTime": "27", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "27", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "27", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5616", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3744", "Interoperability Tag 0x0103": "6", "Interoperability Tag 0x011A": "72", "Interoperability Tag 0x011B": "72", "Interoperability Tag 0x0128": "2", "Interoperability Tag 0x0201": "8615", "Interoperability Tag 0x0202": "5705", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8521", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5616000/1459", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1872000/479", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}