Always the architect, Matthew peers into the pool, admiring the adaptive reuse of the cistern. The building codes during the Knights Hospitallers’ times required developers to dig a cistern within the solid rock foundation of their building site, then use the quarried stone to construct the building. Rainwater had to be channeled from the rooftop into the cistern, since Malta’s freshwater has always been in short supply. Seems like many modern cities could learn a lesson from Malta’s past.