During their stay in Malta, the Knights fortified Malta, built a powerful naval presence and defended Europe against Ottoman expansion.
The Knights’ military prowess was most evident in the Great Siege of 1565, when they successfully repelled an Ottoman invasion despite being grossly outnumbered.
Fortifications in Malta and Gozo
To defend against Ottoman threats, the Knights built advanced fortifications:
Mdina – The Knights upgraded the fortifications between the 16th and 18th centuries. Mdina was the capital of Malta until the Knights replaced it with Birgu.
Fort St. Angelo – The Knights transformed what was originally a medieval castle into a fort between the 1530s and the 1560s becoming the seat of the Grand Master and the HQ of the Knights during the Great Siege of 1565. Major works were carried out in the 1690s to become the fort as we know it today.
Fort Saint Elmo – The Knights built this Star Fort on the Sciberras peninsula in 1552 to protect the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour. Fort Saint Elmo was the scene of some of the most intense fighting during the Great Siege of 1565, and it held out for nearly a month, withstanding massive bombardment from Turkish cannon. None of the Knights defending Fort St. Elmo survived.
The long siege of St. Elmo bought much needed time for the preparation of the other two fortresses and the arrival of reinforcements from Spain.
Valletta – Following the Great Siege, the victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Order’s position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island.
Jean de Valette laid the foundation stone on the 28th March 1566. The ruined Fort Saint Elmo was rebuilt and integrated within the city walls. De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74 and never saw the completion of his city. The city was later to take his name and was called La Valletta.
Valletta was mostly completed in 1570 and replaced Birgu as the new capital of Malta on the 18th March 1571 when Grand Master Pierre de Monte moved from his seat at Fort St Angelo in Birgu to the Grandmaster’s Palace in Valletta.
Cittadella – This was a medieval castle that gave refuge to Gozo’s inhabitants when the island was raided by corsairs or Ottomans. In 1551, the Cittadella was sacked by the Ottomans. A major reconstruction of the southern walls of the Cittadella was undertaken between 1599 and1622, transforming it into a gunpowder fortress.
Fort Ricasoli – This ‘bastioned’ fort was built between 1670 and 1698 and stands on the easternmost peninsula on the east side of the Grand Harbour, defending its entrance. It is the largest fort in Malta.
Fort Manoel – A baroque fort built on Manoel Island between 1723 and 1733. Its purpose was to prevent the enemy from taking the island and building batteries on it to bombard Valletta.
Fort Chambray – Is a bastioned fort built between 1749 and 1760s, it overlooks Gozo’s Mgarr harbour. Its purpose was to be able to maintain the sea link with Malta, and would be able to take in Gozo’s inhabitants and their livestock, relieving pressure from the Cittadella.
Plans for its development drawn in the 1750s show that there had to be a militarized Baroque town with a grid plan, similar to Valletta, and residences were to include their own private gardens. A large space in the middle was intended to be a piazza or town square, surrounded by the main buildings. The buildings at the piazza were to include the main church, a courthouse and the residence of the Castellan. The plans did not materialise.
The Three Cities – Birgu, Senglea and Bormla are built on the shores of the south-eastern shores of the Grand Harbour directly across the water from the capital city of Valletta.
The fortifications of Birgu, on which Fort St. Angelo stands, started soon after the arrival of the Knights to Malta and were significantly strengthened before the Great Siege.
Senglea was built as a Fortified city from 1551 to 1552 and played a critical role during the Great Siege.
The fortification of Bormla started after the Great Siege, in the early 17th century.
The Cottonera lines were a serious of bastioned walls built in the 1670s to encompass and protect all Three Cities from any landward invasion.
Fort Tigne – Built between 1793 and 1795 to defend the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour
Towers in Malta and Gozo
Despite the significant fortifications in the harbour area, until the 17th century the rest of the islands remained mostly undefended and prone to Ottoman and corsair raids.
Coastal towers were either built for defensive purposes or to give advance warning for country folk to seek refuge or for both.
Garzes Tower – built in Mgarr, Gozo as a watch tower in 1605 (Demolished in 1848)
Wignacourt Towers – 6 such towers were built in Malta, Gozo and Comino between 1610 and 1620 by Grand Master Alf de Wignacourt (1601 – 1622). These were more than just watchtowers as they formed significant strongpoints intended to protect vulnerable sections of the coast from attack. Of the six towers, one collapsed in 1716 (Gozo) and another was demolished in 1888 (Malta). The other four towers survive to this day.
Lascaris Towers – Grand Master Giovanni Paolo Lascaris built 10 towers during his term as Grand Master (1636 – 1657).
Seven watch towers were built between 1637 and 1638, all of which were in Malta, 6 along the coast and one built inland. The latter was built to serve as a ‘relay’ station between the newly constructed Lippija and Għajn Tuffieħa Towers and the walled city of Mdina.
Another tower, Saint Agatha’s Tower, was built between 1647 and 1649. Unlike the original towers, this was a large bastioned structure similar to the earlier Wignacourt towers
The last two towers were built in Gozo, one in Xlendi and the other in Dwejra. These were built in 1650 and 1652 respectively.
All towers survive bar one, Blat Mogħża Tower also known as Ta’ Capra Tower, which collapsed when the cliff it was built on in Mgarr (Malta) subsided in 1730.
De Redin towers – 14 coastal watch towers were built by Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan (1775 – 1797), 13 in Malta and 1 in Gozo. 9 survive intact and 2 are in ruins.
Batteries and redouts in Malta and Gozo
From 1714 onwards, about 52 batteries and redoubts were built around the coasts of Malta and Gozo.
A few of the batteries were built around existing coastal watchtowers, such as Qawra and Aħrax Towers. Most of the batteries were destroyed over the years or are in ruins, but a few are still remain more or less intact, including St. Anthony’s, Ferretti, Wilga, Mistra, Vendôme, Qolla l-Bajda and St. Mary’s Batteries.
Very few redoubts survive, including Briconet, Ximenes and St. George Redoubts. Various entrenchments were also built between the 1720s and 1760s, both around the coastline and along some inland positions. The remains of a few still survive today, including the Naxxar Entrenchment and the Louvier Entrenchment.
Other fortifications
Apart from the knights’ fortifications, over the years various individuals or families built their own fortifications. These were mainly fortified residences or private watchtowers. A notable surviving example is Mamo Tower, built in 1657 in Marsaskala.
Palaces
Grand Masters Palace Valletta – The Palace started to take shape in 1574 under Grand Master Jean de la Cassière. It was modified and embellished by subsequent Grand Masters, which gave the building a Baroque character. The ceilings of the main corridors were decorated with frescoes by Nicolau Nasoni in 1724, during the magistracy of António Manoel de Vilhena. In the 1740s, Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca made extensive alterations to the building and gave it its present configuration. The Palace served as the official residence of the Grand Masters.
Verdala Palace – The site was originally occupied by a hunting lodge built in the 1550s or 1560s during the reign of Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette. The lodge was built in the Boschetto (Buskett gardens), a large semi-landscaped area that was used by knights of the Order of Saint John for game hunting.
The hunting lodge was expanded into a palace in 1586, during the reign of Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, after whom the palace was named. It was further embellished in the 17th and 18th centuries, during the reigns of Giovanni Paolo Lascaris and António Manoel de Vilhena.
San Anton Palace, Attard – The palace was originally built in the early 17th century as a country villa for Antoine de Paule, a knight of the Order of St. John. It was expanded into a palace following de Paule’s election as Grand Master in 1623.
The palace was used as a residence by subsequent Grand Masters, being enlarged a number of times in the process.
Inquisitor’s Palace, Birgu – The palace was built in around the 1530s, and it initially housed the Magna Curia Castellania Melitensis, a tribunal which was established by Grand Master Juan de Homedes y Coscon.
The Inquisition was established in Malta in September 1574, from when the palace was transformed into to Inquisitors residence and housing the tribunal and prisons, until the Inquisition was abolished by the French in 1798.
Inquisitor’s Palace, Girgenti – The palace was built in 1625 as the Inquisitors summer residence until the Inquisition was abolished by the French in 1798.
Vilhena Palace – In 1722, newly elected Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena ordered the restoration and renovation of Mdina. Vilhena Palace was built between 1726 and 1728 as the summer residence of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena.
Casa Leoni – Also known as Vilhena Palace, was built in 1730 as another summer residence of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena
Other projects
Sacra Infermeria – The Holy Infirmary was ordered to be built by Grand Master Jean de la Cassière on 7 November 1574 and was completed towards the end of the 16th century. Over the years the infirmary was enlarged and had improvements made to it.
It was one of the leading hospitals in Europe until the 18th century, and remained in use until 1920.
It was known as the Grand Hôspital during the French occupation of Malta and during the British period was named as the Station Hospital.
Wignacourt aqueducts – The aqueducts were constructed to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat to the newly built capital city Valletta. Construction started in 1596 and after suspension of works were finally finished in 1615. The aqueduct carried water through underground pipes and over arched viaducts across depressions in the ground.
The aqueduct remained in use until the 20th century. Most of its arches still survive today, and can still be seen in the localities of Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara, Fleur-de-Lys and Santa Venera. Other remains of the aqueduct include water towers at Santa Venera, Hamrun and Floriana, and several fountains in Floriana and Valletta.
Birgu, Valletta and Floriana – Malta never produced enough grain to feed its population. The Knights of Malta immediately recognised the need to store large quantities of grain, particularly if Malta was under siege.
The 1st underground granaries were built in Birgu in 1538. They must have played an important role during the ravages Birgu endured in the Great Siege of 1565. More underground granaries were built in Birgu in 1665.
More underground granaries were built in Senglea around 1554.
The 1st underground granaries in Valletta were built in about 1657, near St. Elmo. Subsequently more underground granaries were built in Valletta and Floriana.
The Knights also took pains to ensure that the population of Gozo had enough grain in store for times of need, especially when the population was forced to seek shelter in the Cittadella during the frequent attacks by Moorish corsairs
Cisterns and reservoirs
Historical importance – Malta’s strategic location and vulnerability to sieges and lack of natural springs necessitated the development of robust water storage systems.
Cisterns in townhouses – Traditional Maltese houses often included a bell-shaped cistern beneath the building, collecting rainwater from the roof.
Public reservoirs – Valletta, in particular, features large public cisterns and reservoirs, carved from the soft Maltese rock, to supply the city’s needs.
Underground Valletta – Valletta houses a complex of cisterns and reservoirs many of which were used as shelters during World War II shelters.
Art and Architecture
The Knights’ patronage of the arts led to the construction of numerous churches and palaces, as well as the creation of artistic masterpieces. They attracted notable artists like Caravaggio and Mattia Preti, whose works can still be seen in Maltese churches and palaces.
Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum
Defence of the Faith and assistance to the poor
