After a storied career that saw it appearing in Game of Thrones, various tourism brochures, and the daydreams of many deskbound workers, Malta's Azure Window fell into the sea Wednesday, the Times of Malta reports.
The so-called Azure Window—formal name Tieqa tad-Dwejra—was a massive limestone arch that connected two large seaside cliffs on Gozo Island. People came from around the world to clamber over it, and to gaze through it at the sea and sky beyond. Both the arch and one of the cliffs it connected collapsed yesterday, effectively severing the whole feature from the coastline.
Recent studies indicated that the arch would likely not survive long, due to corrosion from wind, waves, and walking. In response, the government outlawed climbing over the arch last year.
#Dwejra#AzureWindow site today. Picture by @Armed_Forces_MTpic.twitter.com/9reBk7nmr5
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) March 8, 2017
In the end, though, the arch's demise was entirely natural, the result of a massive storm. "There was a big raging sea beneath the window," Malta resident Roger Chessell told the Times. "Suddenly, the arch collapsed into the sea with a loud whoomph. By the time the spray had faded, the stack had gone too."
A fittingly theatrical end for a true rock star.