Malta has some beautiful landscapes, and some super places to view them from, but a balcony in Valletta may just have one of the viewing spots on the island – with a ceramic throne included.

Or had, at least until recently. A traditional house in Sapper’s Street, Valletta, had to have one of the toilets removed while it undergoes a facelift.

The thing is, the toilet was not in the bathroom. 

The toilet was in the balcony, overlooking Hastings Gardens.

It’s not exactly an everyday site, a toilet in the balcony, but apparently it was more common than you’d think back in the day. 

Before bathrooms became standard in households in Malta, there was very little space in one’s house to install a bathroom, so people used to install their bathroom in their balconies.

If you look closely, you can even see the old-fashioned flush lever hanging from the ceiling of the balcony.

With people doing their business in their balconies, it’s no wonder that the poet Lord Byron called Malta an ‘island of bells and smells” when he visited in the 1800s.

With the ancient WC getting expelled from the old house, Maltese people couldn’t resist passing a few juicy comments.

All we know is, next time we come across a balcony with a ton of space in it, we’re buying a toilet. 

Would you use this awesomely-placed toilet?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]