This is the entertainment block built in the 1920s for the troops to use, consisting primarily of a large cinema and billiard room. A TV room and bar was added in the 1960s at the rear of the building. It’s currently empty inside, although the former bar area is still visibly there, but there’s not much else present. Hopefully in years to come this will all become part of the museum, it must be exciting for Heritage Malta to have so many buildings to play with on this site.
The Great Siege of Malta took place in 1565 and it was the defences of Fort St. Angelo which helped the Knights of St. John to hold off against the attack of the Ottoman Empire. After the siege the Knights constructed their new capital city, Valletta, which is just over the water from this fort.
In one of the exhibition rooms is this granite cannonball, from that attack on the fort by the forces of the Ottoman Empire. A rather fascinating piece of history, as if the Ottomans had been victorious than the course of history for Christians across Europe could have been very different.
This building now holds three interpretation rooms covering the subjects of (i) the centre of the Mediterranean, (ii) the Key to Malta and (iii) a National Icon. But, until relatively recently, these were dormitories for the British military.
Inside the second interpretation room. I’m not sure how the military made a dormitory out of this, it might be historic, but it’s not exactly beautifully lit. Incidentally, I’m aware of the current meaning of the word lit by the nation’s younger generation, but I just mean that’s it not very bright (the former dormitory, not the nation’s younger generation).
This is the room where the British stored gunpowder. Unsurprisingly, the British military didn’t want any little incidents involving gunpowder, so they kept it nice and safely in this room. Next to this room is a little lobby area where those men dealing with the gunpowder would have to change clothing as their uniform and boots might be “contaminated”. They would change into white clothing and canvas shoes, with absolutely no metal present, before they could play about with the gunpowder. The boxes in the storage room would be made of zinc and there was a glass and brass panel between this room and the shifting lobby.
I have no idea what this means, since I’m not an expert in gunpowder (or indeed an expert in anything to do with the military if I’m being honest), but this is an original British sign painted onto the wall.
This is the oldest sally port (a secure entrance) in Malta, which formerly linked Ferramolino’s fortifications to St. Angelo’s Battery. It remained in place until the nineteenth century when improvements (well, changes) to the fort by the British took it out of use.
The passageway.
The partly unblocked end of the passage. The building which this leads to was used by the British military as a dormitory until it was recently turned into a museum, and it’s now interpretation room 1.
I’ve read a lot this week about the Knights of St. John, the Christian crusaders who successfully defended themselves against the Ottoman forces in their sixteenth century attack on Malta. So important was the victory that Queen Elizabeth I said that Christendom across Europe would have been endangered if the Ottoman Muslims had been victorious.
The Knights governed Malta from 1530 until 1798 (they had lost their previous base in Rhodes – a city I now want to visit), when the French threw them out. The British reclaimed the islands in 1800, but they then came under British rule until the late twentieth century when Malta went for independence.
Seeing lots of the history of the Knights this week, it did feel quite unfortunate that they were no longer involved in Malta. However, I discovered today on my visit to Fort. St Angelo that they’re back in the fort that they originally did so much to create. They were given a 99-year lease to the upper part of the fort, which is one of the most impressive defensive structures that I’ve seen (and more on which in other posts), in 1998.
There is an agreement that the flag of Malta and the flag of the Knights will fly over the fort, which is just visible in my photo above. I like it when history does that, it feels right to me that the Knights are there. The only slightly unfortunate thing is that they’re now occupying some historic parts of the fort which visitors now can’t routinely visit.
These steps are several hundred years old, which is evident from the heavy usage that they have had. The steps don’t lead anywhere now, as in 1854 Lascaris Battery was plonked down right on top of them, but they were once the steps that led down to the sea. Modern development has seen some land reclaimed and the road level raised, so now they’re just a little piece of Maltese history….
Near to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa is this stone gate, which is the entrance to a church located in an ancient grotto.
The steps down, and I wondered what I was walking down into…..
These are the final set of steps which go into the chapel. It is said that the Virgin is able to heal children, so some people leave children’s clothes and letters in the hope that they can be cured of their illness.
Light comes in from this large skylight, although the lighting in the grotto is still mostly from candles. Although it’s a natural cave, it has been turned into this church by cutting into the limestone.
Sitting in a pool of naturally flowing water, the statue of the Madonna holding the baby Jesus. There were reports in 1887, 1888 and 1948 that the statue was seen moving her right hand in the shape of a cross, and the site has long been a destination for pilgrims.
Graffiti marked into the stone near to the entrance, dating back to 1834 (unless someone more recently just etched in an incorrect date).
There are numerous, mostly damaged, statues in the niches around the church.
Just a random photo from my balcony at the hotel, some interesting colours in the evening light…..
I still have a few more of these to find in Valletta, the sculptures of Maltese proverbs. The text for this one reads:
“Time ripens the prickly pears – people acquire experience and wisdom with the passage of time”.
