[3] Built during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and expanded during the British colonial period, Villa Bologna was central in the artistic, cultural, social and political history of Malta.

A story, much repeated but never substantiated, has it that he was provoked into building a residence of surpassing beauty and magnificence for his daughter by aspersions cast by his new in-laws on his social standing.

In the first place, the Perdicomati Bolognas were no family of ancient title; the first count was ennobled barely three months before his son married Maria Teresa Grech.

[10] Whatever the case may be, Nicholas Perdicomati Bologna and Maria Teresa Grech were married on 25 April 1745[11] and they were given this "fabulous villa" as a wedding present.

At one point he even held simultaneously the office of Leader of the Opposition in Malta as well as that of Conservative MP for Lancaster in the UK's House of Commons.

[17] It was Lady Strickland who was to modernise Villa Bologna and, together with her friend Count Giuseppe Teuma Castelletti, she extended the gardens far beyond their original limits, raised the walls of the property and decorated them with crenels.

She added turrets, planted hundreds of trees and many exotic species, and laid out fountains and ponds of unique character and beauty.

[citation needed] In 1940, Lord Strickland died and, for the first time since its construction, the ownership of Villa Bologna was estranged from the Catena title.

Mary Constance Horneyold Strickland[19] while Villa Bologna passed on to Gerald Edmund Hubert de Trafford(1929-2015), the eldest son of the Hon.

The architect of Villa Bologna is unknown but an attempt has been made to attribute this design to Domenico Cachia, capomastro della Fondazione Manoel.

[20] Current research indicates that Andrea Belli, who was an architect involved in the reconstruction of the Auberge de Castille between 1741 and 1744[21]), may be responsible for Villa Bologna.

Nonetheless, this evidence linking one of the most imposing, majestic and lavish palaces ever erected by the Knights of Malta with Villa Bologna gives some insight into the character of Fabrizio Grech.

One element of note is that the windows on the upper storey are Neo-Classical in style, an apparent anomaly on a building so otherwise resolutely Baroque.

This side does have the addition of mullioned windows graced by extraordinarily beautiful stained glass bearing the heraldic devices of the Bologna and the Strickland families.

To the right of the large Nymphaeum is a building called the Pavilion that served as the workshop where Lord Strickland, a keen amateur carpenter and engineer, practised his favourite hobbies.

[citation needed] At the far end of this dining room are the mullioned windows with the stained glass bearing the coats of arms of the Bologna and the Strickland families.

[citation needed] In 1942, at the height of World War II, when the bombing of Malta was at its most intense, it was felt necessary to put in a shelter under the house.

At the time that the shelter was dug out, this main room served to store the boilers that provided the villa's central heating and it also included a shaft for coal.

After his term as governor expired, Lord Strickland brought saplings back from Australia and planted the Grevillea and a couple of other Australian trees in the Baroque Garden.

However, the shade provided created a pleasant area for entertaining so this part of the Baroque Garden was adorned with Maltese paving stones.

Thus, assisted by her friend, Count Giuseppe Teuma Castelletti, she laid out large gardens along the western side of the villa.

She greatly increased the acreage of the estate, bringing the total up to around 7.3 acres[4] and she added a line of cypresses recalling the famous gardens of La Mortola on the Italian Riviera.

These gardens are typical of the Baroque in Italy at that time, with a symmetrical layout set around cobbled pavements with pillars bearing stone pots of all kinds.

Rusticated columns frame the niches and panels while figures drawn from Classical mythology, or personifications of nature, fill the fountain.

[citation needed] Up a flight of stairs leading west from the Dolphin Pond is an area far smaller in size but just as attractive to visitors.

[citation needed] On the main level, flanking the pond, are two semi-circular stone benches shaded by false pepper (Schinus Molle) trees.

During the war, the Count stored his stock in the cellar at Villa Bologna, which was lucky indeed since his pottery, then at a now forgotten location at Ta’ Qali, was hit by a bomb.

Then, in 1951, it occurred to Cecilia, Gerald's mother, to set up a pottery in the old stables to continue the work of Count Giuseppe Teuma Castelletti.

[31] Villa Bologna remains the residence of the de Traffords, the latest generation of the descendants of Fabrizio Grech, the man who built it.

[citation needed] Many things make Villa Bologna unique but it is the constant residence of the family that breathes life and soul into it.