Karin Grech Garden
park in San Ġwann, Malta
Karin Grech Garden (Maltese: Ġnien Karin Grech), officially Karin Grech Playing Field, is a public garden and playing field in San Ġwann, Malta. The garden is named after Karin Grech, a letterbomb victim.
Location
Karin Grech Garden is located at Vjal Ir-Rihan (Rihan Road), at the front of San Ġwann Parish Church dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.
History
Before the creation of the garden the site consisted of natural fauna and flora, used as agricultural land from the times of the Romans until the middle of the 20th century, and since then rehabilitated as a public garden. Before, during and mainly after the Second World War several Maltese and British families flocked out of Valletta, the Three Cities of Cottonera and the surrounding suburbs and moved to San Gwann as a general consequence of the war; they moved out initially to avoid the bombardment targeting the Grand Harbour area.
With the growing population in San Ġwann, Maltese politicians and the community have pushed for a public garden to provide a recreational area. The garden was for many years the only urban public garden in San Ġwann, with other gardens having been created over time. The garden was built in the memory of Karin Maria Grech in 1981.
In March 2020, the playing field was damaged due to a car chase crash on site.
Naming of the garden
The garden was initially referred to simply as il-gnien (the garden) for some time, before being named the Karin Grech Playing Field (Ġnien Karin Grech).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Karin Grech Garden” as park in San Ġwann, Malta. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as park in San Ġwann, Malta. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q22668551. Authority coordinates are 35.909, 14.476. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981 and 2020.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Karin Grech Garden”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Karin Grech Garden primary sources, Karin Grech Garden archive and Karin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Karin Grech Garden”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Karin Grech Garden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.