Cottonera Lines | |
---|---|
Is-Swar tal-Kottonera | |
Cospicua and Birgu, Malta | |
![]() The Cottonera Lines as seen from Għajn Dwieli | |
![]() Map of the Cottonera Lines and the Santa Margherita Lines. The Cottonera Lines are the outer line of fortifications. | |
Coordinates | 35°52′37.4″N14°31′36.2″E / 35.877056°N 14.526722°E |
Type | Line of fortifications |
Site information | |
Owner | Government of Malta Various private owners |
Condition | Mostly intact |
Site history | |
Built | 1670–1760s |
Built by | Order of Saint John |
In use | 17th–20th centuries |
Materials | Limestone |
Battles/wars | Siege of Malta (1798–1800) |
The Cottonera Lines (Maltese : Is-Swar tal-Kottonera), also known as the Valperga Lines (Maltese : Is-Swar ta' Valperga), are a line of fortifications in Bormla and Birgu, Malta. They were built in the 17th and 18th centuries on higher ground and further outwards than the earlier line of fortifications, known as the Santa Margherita or Firenzuola lines, which also surround Bormla.
In 1638, the construction of Santa Margherita fortifications began around Bormla but work stopped soon after due to a lack of funds, and they remained in an unfinished state.
In 1669, fears of an Ottoman attack rose after the fall of Candia, and a new city, the Civitas Cotonera, named after the reigning Grand Master, Nicolas Cotoner was designed by the Italian engineer Antonio Maurizio Valperga, who also modified the Floriana Lines and some other fortifications of the Grand Harbour. In times of siege, the Civitas Cotonera was meant to offer shelter to the 40,000 island's inhabitants and their animals.
The Civitas Cotonera was called the "most ambitious work of fortification ever undertaken by the Knights of St. John in Malta". [1]
Construction of the Civita Cotonera and conversion of the earlier fortifications into the Santa Margherita castle, commenced in 1670 but following an outbreak of the plague, which only helped to put more pressure on the Order's already depleted funds, work was discontinued. In 1680 Grand Master Nicolas Coroner passed away and his project was shelved.
By this time, the bastioned enceinte was mostly complete and parts of the ditch had been excavated, but other crucial parts such as cavaliers, ravelins, the glacis and the covertway had not yet been built.
In the early 18th century, some efforts were made to complete the Cotonera fortifications. Contrary to Grandmaster Cotoner's plan for a castle at the centre of the new city, the Santa Margherita was continued as a line of fortifications.
Gunpowder magazines were built on St. James and St. Clement Bastions, while Fort San Salvatore was built on St. Salvatore Bastion. [2] The lines were eventually completed in the 1760s, [3] but the ditch was left unfinished while the outworks and cavaliers were never built. [4]
During the French blockade of 1798–1800, the Cottonera lines were held by the French. The Maltese insurgents who had rebelled against them built an entrenchment around the Cottonera and the other fortifications in the harbour area. A number of batteries and lookout posts, such as Tal-Borg Battery and Windmill Redoubt, were also built in the vicinity. Meanwhile, the French bombarded the Maltese in Żabbar. [5]
The British modified the incomplete Civitas Cotonera in the 19th century with the construction of St. Clement's Retrenchment, which connected the Cotonera with the Santa Margherita fortifications. As part of this project the British also built the Fort Verdala on the same site that Grandmaster Nicolas Cotoner had intended to build his castle. In the 1870s, the Valperga Bastion and St. Paul's Curtain, the St. Paul's Gate and a church dedicated to St. Francis De Paule were demolished to make way for the new road and Ghajn Dwieli tunnel, which formed part of an extension of the Malta Dockyard. [6]
The fortifications were included in the Antiquities List of 1925. [7]
Originally Cottonera was a town between Cottonera lines and St Margaret fortifications. When the knights came to Malta and started planning projects, the Cottonera and the three cities were a land named Birmula. It was big enough to divide this land into three cities and a town named Civitas Cotonera. Originally it's not part of Cospicua or Birgu.
The Cottonera Lines consist of the following bastions and curtain walls (going clockwise from Kalkara Creek to French Creek):
Today, St. Laurence Demi-Bastion to Notre Dame Curtain fall within the limits of Birgu, while Notre Dame to St. Paul Bastions fall within the limits of Cospicua.
Fort Ricasoli is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding the entrance to the Grand Harbour along with Fort Saint Elmo. It is not only the largest fort in Malta but also the largest in Europe, and it has been on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998, as part of the Knights' Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta.
Fort Manoel is a star fort on Manoel Island in Gżira, Malta. It was built in the 18th century by the Order of Saint John, during the reign of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, after whom it is named. Fort Manoel is located to the north west of Valletta, and commands Marsamxett Harbour and the anchorage of Sliema Creek. The fort is an example of Baroque architecture, and it was designed with both functionality and aesthetics in mind.
Fort Saint Elmo is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort Tigné and Fort Ricasoli. It is best known for its role in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.
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The Three Cities is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua in Malta. The oldest of the Three Cities is Vittoriosa, which has existed since prior to the Middle Ages. The other two cities, Senglea and Cospicua, were both founded by the Order of Saint John in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Three Cities are enclosed by the Cottonera Lines, along with several other fortifications. The term Cottonera is synonymous with the Three Cities, although it is sometimes taken to also include the nearby town of Kalkara.
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Fort Chambray or Fort Chambrai is a bastioned fort located in the precincts of Għajnsielem, on the island of Gozo, Malta. It was built in the mid-18th century by the Order of Saint John, in an area known as Ras it-Tafal, between the port of Mġarr and Xatt l-Aħmar. The fort was meant to be the citadel of a new city which was to replace the Cittadella as the island's capital, but this plan never materialized.
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Fort San Salvatore, also known as Fort Salvatore, is a retrenched fort in Birgu, Malta. It was built in 1724 on one of the bastions of the Cottonera Lines. It was used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Greek War of Independence and World War I, and as an internment camp and kerosene depot in World War II.
The Santa Margherita Lines, also known as the Firenzuola Lines, are a line of fortifications in Cospicua, Malta. They were built in the 17th and 18th centuries to protect the land front defences of the cities of Birgu and Senglea. A second line of fortifications, known as the Cottonera Lines, was later built around the Santa Margherita Lines, while the city of Cospicua was founded in the 18th century within the Santa Margherita and Cottonera Lines.
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