Mapping Valletta’s Beautiful Balconies

Malta’s balconies are a tourism staple to match the luzzu or the Maltese cross, but have you ever really stopped to appreciate their infinite variety and essential quirkiness?
Perhaps proving the adage that it takes an outsider to appreciate what you’ve got, Russian expat and blogger Raisa Tarasova has taken it upon herself to document our capital city’s balconies in a two-part blog series.
Assigning a ‘character’ to each of the unique balconies, Raisa has even mapped out some of her favourites. Here’s a selection of some of Raisa’s finds.
1. The big kahunas

Maltese balconies often get plenty of tourist mileage by being ‘cute’ and ‘quaint’, but these babies would rather go big than go home.
2. The optical illusion

Whoever put together these balconies knew that a simple but effective optical illusion can go a long way.
3. Beaten down, but not beaten

Though they’ve seen better days, these balconies wear the ravages of time rather well.
4. When smaller is better

Raisa has also given the smaller balconies their moment in the (baking summer) sun: check out this adorable ‘red dwarf’!
5. Double happiness

Raisa calls them ‘Baroque Twins’, and we’re hard-pressed for a better moniker for these understated but impressive denizens of Merchants Street.
6. Wooden waves

A pleasing curve adds a little something extra to this fellow Merchants Street fixture.
7. Improbably tiny

Yet another entry in Raisa’s ‘Mini-Gems’, this quirky find comes readily equipped with clothes-lines, despite its diminutive size.
Check out Raisa’s original blog entries here and here. All photos by Raisa Tarasova.