Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, the Grand Master of the
Order of St. John, attended the feast of the village of Żebbuġ on 12 May 1776. The parish priest Dun Feliċ Borg sent a petition to the Grand Master, requesting that the village be elevated to the status of a city. Borg promised to construct two
triumphal arches if the request was accepted. De Rohan agreed and gave Żebbuġ the title Città Rohan by a decree dated 21 June 1777. , installed on the arch Although city status was granted, the two arches were not built due to several difficulties. De Rohan died on 14 July 1797, and the people decided to build a single arch at the entrance to the city, partially fulfilling the promise they had made twenty years earlier. The arch cost about 1000
scudi to build, The gate was one of the last examples of Hospitaller-era architecture in Malta, since a month after its inauguration
the French invaded the islands and brought the Order's rule to an end. Between 1905 and 1929, the Malta
tramway used to pass near the arch. In the 1950s, Freedom Avenue () was opened to give better access to the Żebbuġ centre, and this reduced the amount of traffic passing through the arch. Later on, vehicles were not allowed to pass through the arch in order to preserve it. The arch was restored by the Żebbuġ
Local Council in 1995. The De Rohan Arch was included on the Antiquities List of 1925, and it is now scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument. ==Architecture==