FORTIFICATIONS of MALTA. Consist of a number of walled cities, citadels, forts, towers, batteries, redoubts, entrenchments and pillboxes. The fortifications were built over thousands of years, from around 1450 BC to the mid-20th century, and they are a result of the Maltese islands’ strategic position and natural harbours, which have made them very desirable for various powers.
The earliest known fortifications in Malta are defensive walls built around Bronze Age settlements. The Phoenicians, Romans and Byzantines built a number of defensive walls around important settlements, but very little remains of these survive today. By the late medieval period, the main fortifications on Malta were the capital Mdina, the Cittadella on Gozo, the Castrum Maris and a few coastal towers or lookout posts.
Following a brief French occupation, the islands fell under British rule in 1800. Between the 1870s and the 1900s a number of polygonal forts and batteries were built around Malta’s coastline and along the Great Fault. In the 1930s and 1940s, Fort Campbell, a series of pillboxes and a number of anti-aircraft batteries were constructed, and these were the last fortifications to be built in Malta.
Malta’s fortifications are considered to be among the best examples of military architecture anywhere in the world. Major General Whitworth Porter of the Royal Engineers, called Malta “the most powerful artificial fortress in the world” in his 1858 book A History of the Fortress of Malta.
The British architect Quentin Hughes referred to Malta’s fortifications as “for sheer concentration and majesty quite unmatched”, while judge and historian Giovanni Bonello said that “nowhere in the world are fortifications more extensive, more impressive, more outstanding than they are in Malta.”
CATACOMBS of MALTA
There are hundreds of catacombs in Malta, principally found in the neighbourhood of Citta Vecchia, the old capital of the Island. The catacombs are very small, but are in good preservation.
The catacombs include:
Tal-Mintna Catacombs – Mqabba, Malta
St. Paul’s Catacombs – Rabat, Malta[
St. Agatha’s Catacombs – Rabat, Maltaaa
Salina Catacombs – Naxxar, Malta
St Augustine’s Catacombs – Rabat, Malta
Ta’ Bistra Catacombs – near Mosta, Malta
St. Catald’s Catacombs (St Catald Catacombs)
St. Paul’s Catacombs are some of the most prominent features of Malta’s early Christianity archaeology. The archaeological clearing of the site has revealed an extensive system of underground galleries and tombs dating from the third to the eighth centuries CE. There are over 30 hypogea in the entire St. Paul’s and St. Agatha’s complex, over 20 are open to the public.
The cemetery probably originated in the Phoenician-Punic period. As in Roman tradition, Phoenician and Punic burials were located outside city walls. The many tombs discovered in areas outside the known line of the Roman city suggest that the city of Melite was close to equal size.
The early tombs consisted of a deep rectangular shaft with one or two chambers dug from its sides. This type of burial was used well into the Roman occupation of the islands, but the chambers grew larger and more regular in shape over time. It is probable that this enlargement joined neighboring tombs and led to the creation of small catacombs, which became the norm by the fourth century AD.
The catacombs were in use till the seventh, possibly eighth century. Some of the catacombs were used again during the re-Christianisation of the Island around the 13th century.
Although the complex contains almost all of the burial types found in the Maltese repertoire, the best represented are so-called baldacchino tombs. These free-standing, canopied burials dominate the main corridors of the complex; their four elegant arches and supporting pillars are exemplary. Other decorations within this catacomb include illustrations and written messages in red paint.
Another catacomb is much smaller than the first. The surgical tools carved in relief on one of the three blocking stones in the inner chamber suggest that it was the burial place of a particular family or group of surgeons.
The 24 catacombs show evidence of Christian, Pagan and Jewish burials side-by-side and no visible divisions.
VICTORIA LINES
Originally known as the North West Front and sometimes unofficially known as the Great Wall of Malta, are a line of fortifications that spans 12 kilometres along the width of Malta, dividing the north of the island from the more heavily populated south.
Location. The Victoria Lines run along a natural geographical barrier known as the Great Fault, from Madliena in the east, through the limits of the town of Mosta in the centre of the island, to Binġemma and the limits of Rabat, on the west coast. The complex network of linear fortifications was a unique monument of military architecture.
Background. When built by the British military in the late 19th century, the line was designed to present a physical barrier to invading forces landing in the north of Malta, intent on attacking the harbour installations, so vital for the maintenance of the British fleet, their source of power in the Mediterranean. Although never tested in battle, this system of defences, spanning some 12 km of land and combining different types of fortifications – forts, batteries, entrenchments, stop-walls, infantry lines, searchlight emplacements and howitzer positions – constituted a unique ensemble of varied military elements all brought together to enforce the strategy adopted by the British for the defence of Malta in the latter half of the 19th century. A singular solution which exploited the defensive advantages of geography and technology as no other work of fortifications does in the Maltese islands.
The Victoria Lines owe their origin to a combination of international events and the military realities of the time. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, highlighted the importance of the Maltese islands.
Limitations. By 1888, the line of the cliffs formed by the great geological fault and the works which had been constructed along its length from Fort Bingemma on the left to Fort Madalena on the right constituted a military position of great strength. The main defects inherent in the defensive position were the extremities where the high ground descended towards the shore, leaving wide gaps through which enemy forces could by-pass the whole position.
Other changes. The line of the intervening stretches followed the configuration of the crest of the ridge, along the contours of the escarpment. The nature of the wall varied greatly along its length but basically consisted of a sandwich-type construction with an outer and inner revetment, bonded at regular intervals and filled in with terreplein. The average height of the parapet was about five feet (1.5 metres). The walls were frequently topped by loopholes, of which only a very few sections have survived. A number of valleys interrupted the line of the natural fault and, at such places, the continuation of the defensive perimeter was only permitted through the construction of shallow, defensible masonry bridges, as can still be seen today at Wied il-Faħam near Fort Madalena, Wied Anglu and Bingemma Gap. Other bridges, now demolished, existed at Mosta Ravine and Wied Filip.
During the last phase of their development, the Victoria Lines were strengthened by a number of batteries and additional fortifications. An infantry redoubt was built at the western extremity of the front at Fomm ir-Riħ and equipped with emplacements for Maxim machine guns. In 1897 a High Angle Battery was built well to the rear of the defensive lines at Għargħur and another seven howitzer batteries, each consisting of four emplacements for field guns protected by earthen traverses, were built close to the rear of the defensive line. Searchlight emplacements were built at il-Kunċizzjoni and Wied il-Faħam.
Aftermath. Military training exercises staged in May 1900 revealed that the Victoria Lines were of dubious defensive value. With the exception of the coastal forts, by 1907 they were abandoned altogether. Fort Mosta is still in use as an ammunitions depot, while Fort Madalena is still used by the Communications Information Systems Company of the AFM.
In 1998 the Government of Malta submitted the Victoria Lines to UNESCO for consideration as a World Heritage Site. Large parts of the fortification walls have collapsed, although some parts in the countryside remain intact.
MEGALITHIC TEMPLES of MALTA
These are several prehistoric temples built during three distinct periods approximately between 3600 BC and 700 BC. They claim to be the oldest free-standing structures on Earth – the result of local innovations in a process of cultural evolution. This led to the building of several temples of the Ġgantija phase (3600–3000 BC), culminating in the large Tarxien temple complex, which remained in use until 2500 BC. After this date, the temple building culture disappeared.
The Ġgantija temples (two sites) were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 and in1992, this was further extended to five other megalithic temple sites. These are Ħaġar Qim (in Qrendi), Mnajdra (in Qrendi), Ta’ Ħaġrat Temples (in Mġarr), Skorba Temples (in Żebbiegħ) and Tarxien Temples (in Tarxien). The sites are managed by Malta Heritage. Maltese folklore describes giants as having built the temples, which led to the name Ġgantija, meaning ‘Giants’.
History
Temple phases
The development of the chronological phases, based on recalibrated radiocarbon dating, has split the period up to the Bronze Age in Malta into a number of phases. The first evidence of human habitation in the Neolithic occurred in the Għar Dalam phase, in c. 5000 BC. The Temple period, from c. 4100 BC to roughly 2500 BC, produced the most notable monumental remains. This period is split into five phases, however the first two of these left mostly pottery shards. The next three phases, starting from the Ġgantija phase, begins in c. 3600 BC, and the last, the Tarxien phase, ends in c. 2500 BC.
Ġgantija phase (3600–3200 BC)
The Ġgantija phase is named after the Ġgantija site in Gozo. To this date belong the earliest datable temples and the first two of the stages of development in their ground plan: the lobed or kidney-shaped plan found in Mġarr east, the trefoil plan evident in Skorba, Kordin and various minor sites, and the five-apsed plan Ġgantija South, Tarxien East.
Saflieni phase (3300–3000 BC)
The Saflieni phase constitutes a transitional phase between two major periods of development. Its name derives from the site of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. This period carried forward the same characteristics of the Ġgantija pottery shapes, but it also introduces new biconical bowls.
Tarxien phase (3150–2500 BC)
The Tarxien phase marks the peak of the temple civilisation. This phase is named after the temple-complex at Tarxien, a couple of kilometres inland from the Grand Harbour. To it belong the last two stages in the development of the temple plan. The western temple at Ġgantija represents, along with other units in Tarxien, Ħaġar Qim and L-Imnajdra, the penultimate stage in development, that is, the introduction of a shallow niche instead of an apse at the far end of the temple. The final stage is testified in only one temple, the central unit at Tarxien, with its three symmetrical pairs of apses. The Temple culture reached its climax in this period, both in terms of the craftsmanship of pottery, as well as in sculptural decoration, both free-standing and in relief.
Spiral reliefs resembling those at Tarxien once adorned the Ġgantija temples, but have faded to a level where they are only clearly recognisable in a series of drawings made by the artist Charles de Brochtorff in 1829, immediately after the temples’ excavation. The Tarxien phase is characterised by a rich variety of pottery forms and decorative techniques. Most shapes tend to be angular, with almost no handles or lugs. The clay tends to be well prepared and fired very hard, while the surface of the scratched ware is also highly polished. This scratched decoration remains standard, but it becomes more elaborate and elegant, the most popular motif being a kind of volute.
Architecture & Construction
While each individual site has its unique characteristics, they all share a common architecture. The approach to the temples is an oval forecourt, leveled by terracing if the terrain is sloping. The forecourt is bounded on one side by the temples façades, which faces south or south-east. The monuments’ façades and internal walls are made up of orthostats, a row of large stone slabs laid on end.
The centre of the façades is usually interrupted by an entrance doorway forming a trilithon, a pair of orthostats surmounted by a massive lintel slab. Further trilithons form a passage, which is always paved in stone. This in turn opens onto an open space, which then gives way to the next element, a pair of D-shaped chambers, usually referred to as ‘apses’, opening on both sides of the passage. The space between the apses’ walls and the external boundary wall is usually filled with loose stones and earth, sometimes containing cultural debris including pottery shards.
The main variation in the temples lies in the number of apses found; this may vary to three, four, five or six. If three, they open directly from the central court in a trefoil fashion. In cases of more complex temples, a second axial passage is built, using the same trilithon construction, leading from the first set of apses into another later pair, and either a fifth central or a niche giving the four or five apsial form. In one case, at the Tarxien central temple, the fifth apse or niche is replaced by a further passage, leading to a final pair of apses, making six in all.[ With the standard temple plan, found in some thirty temples across the islands, there is a certain amount of variation both in the number of apses, and in the overall length – ranging from 6.5m in the Mnajdra east temple to 23m in the six-apsed Tarxien central temple.
The external walls were usually built of coralline limestone, which is harder than the globigerina limestone used in the internal sections of the temples. The softer globigerina was used for decorative elements within the temples, usually carvings. These features are usually sculpted in relief, and they show a variety of designs linked to vegetative or animal symbolism. These usually depict running spiral motifs, trees and plants as well as a selection of animals. Although in their present form the temples are unroofed, a series of unproven theories regarding possible ceiling and roof structures have been debated for several years.
UNESCO sites
Ġgantija. The Ġgantija temples stand at the end of the Xagħra plateau, facing towards the south-east. Its presence was known for a very long time, and even before any excavations were carried out a largely correct plan of its layout was drawn by Jean-Pierre Houël in the late eighteenth century. In 1827, the site was cleared of debris – the soil and remains being lost without proper examination. The loss resulting from this clearance was partially compensated by the German artist Brochtorff, who painted the site within a year or two from the removal of the debris. This is the only practical record of the clearance.
A boundary wall encloses the two temples. The southerly one is the elder, and is better preserved. The plan of the temple incorporates five large apses, with traces of the plaster that once covered the irregular wall still clinging between the blocks.
Ta’ Ħaġrat. The Ta’ Ħaġrat temple in Mġarr is on the eastern outskirts of the village, roughly one kilometer from the Ta’ Skorba temples. The remains consist of a double temple, made up of two adjacent complexes, both in the shape of a trefoil. The two parts are both less regularly planned and smaller in size than many of the other neolithic temples in Malta, and no blocks are decorated. Sir Temi Żammit excavated the site in 1925–27. A village on the site that pre-dates the temples by centuries has provided plentiful examples of what is now known as Mġarr phase pottery.
Skorba. The importance of this site lies less in the remains than in the information garnered from their excavations. This monument has a typical three-apsed shape of the Ġgantija phase, of which the greater part of the first two apses and the whole of the façade have been destroyed to ground level. What remains are the stone paving of the entrance passage, with its perforations, the torba floors, and a large upright slab of coralline limestone. The north wall is in better shape; originally the entrance opened on a court, but the doorway was later closed off in the Tarxien phase, with altars set in the corners formed by the closure. East of this temple, a second monument was added in the Tarxien phase, with four apses and a central niche. Before the temples were built, the area had supported a village over a period of roughly twelve centuries.
Ħaġar Qim. Ħaġar Qim stands on a ridge some two kilometers away from the villages of Qrendi and Siġġiewi. Its builders used the soft globigerina limestone that caps the ridge to construct the temple. One can clearly see the effects of this choice in the outer southern wall, where the great orthostats are exposed to the sea-winds. Here the temple has suffered from severe weathering and surface flaking over the centuries.
The temple’s façade is typical, with a trilithon entrance, a bench and orthostats. It has a wide forecourt with a retaining wall, through which a passage runs through the middle of the building. This entrance passage and first court follow the common, though considerably modified, Maltese megalithic design. A separate entrance gives access to four enclosures, which are independent of each other and replace the north-westerly apse. Mnajdra. L-Imnajdra temples lies in a hollow 500 metres from Ħaġar Qim. It is another complex site in its own right, and it is centred on a near circular forecourt. Three adjacent temples overlook it from one side, while a terrace from the other separates it from a steep slope that runs down to the sea. The first buildings on the right are small irregular chambers, similar to the enclosures in Ħaġar Qim. Then there is a small trefoil temple, dating from the Ġgantija phase, with pitted decorations. Its unusual triple entrance was copied on a larger scale in the second temple. The middle temple was actually the last to be built, inserted between the others in the Tarxien phase, after 3100 BC. It has four apses and a niche.
Tarxien. The Tarxien temple complex is found some 400 metres to the east of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. The three temples found here were seriously excavated in the early twentieth century by Temi Żammit. Unlike the other sites, this temple is bounded on all sides by modern urban development; however, this does not detract from its value. One enters into the first great forecourt of the southern temple, marked by its rounded façade and a cistern, which is attributed to the temple. The earliest temple to the north-east was built between 3600 and 3200 BC; it consisted of two parallel sets of semi-circular apses, with a passage in the middle.
The south and east temples were built in the Tarxien phase, between 3150 and 2500 BC. The second one has three parallel semi-circular apses, connected by a large passage; the third one has two parallel sets of apses with a passage in a direction parallel to that of the first temple. The first temple is solidly built with large stones, of which some are roughly dressed. The walls are laid with great accuracy, and are very imposing in their simplicity. The second temple is more elaborately constructed, the walls being finished with greater care, some of the standing slabs being decorated with flat raised spirals. In one of the chambers, two bulls and a sow are cut in low relief across one of the walls. The third temple has a carelessly-built frame, but most of its standing stones are richly decorated with carved patterns.