| Fort Saint Elmo | |
|---|---|
Forti Sant'Iermu | |
| Part of thefortifications of Valletta | |
| Valletta, Malta | |
.jpg) Aerial view of Valletta, with Fort St. Elmo in the foreground | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Star fort integrated into acity wall |
| Owner | Government of Malta |
| Controlled by | Heritage Malta Police Academy |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Intact |
| Location | |
 | |
| Map of Fort St. Elmo | |
| Coordinates | 35°54′07″N14°31′08″E / 35.9020°N 14.5188°E /35.9020; 14.5188 |
| Area | 50,400 m2 (543,000 sq ft) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1552–1570s[a] |
| Built by | Order of Saint John |
| In use | 1552–1972 |
| Materials | Limestone |
| Battles/wars | Great Siege of Malta World War II |
| Events | Rising of the Priests |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, vi |
| Designated | 1980(4th session) |
| Part of | City of Valletta |
| Reference no. | 131 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
Fort Saint Elmo (Maltese:Forti Sant'Iermu) is astar fort inValletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of theSciberras Peninsula that dividesMarsamxett Harbour fromGrand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along withFort Tigné andFort Ricasoli. It is best known for its role in theGreat Siege of Malta in 1565.
By 1417, the local militia had already established a permanent watch post on the tip of the Sciberras Peninsula.[1] In 1488, theAragonese built a watchtower on Saint Elmo Point, and it was dedicated toErasmus of Formia, better known as Saint Elmo. In 1533, theOrder of Saint John reinforced the tower due to itsstrategic location.[2] In 1551, anOttoman raid occurred in which the Turkish fleet sailed intoMarsamxett Harbour unopposed. Due to this, it was decided that a major expansion was necessary, and in 1552 the tower was demolished and a newstar fort began to be built. It was designed by a Spanish Engineer named Pietro Pardo.[3] It had a cavalier, a covertway and a tenaille. Aravelin was hastily constructed months before the 1565 siege.[4]
In 1565, in theGreat Siege of Malta, theOttomans invaded Malta once again with much more force than in 1551. Fort Saint Elmo was the scene of some of the most intense fighting of this siege, and it held out for nearly a month, withstanding massivebombardment from Turkishcannon deployed onMount Sciberras that overlooked the fort and from batteries on the north arm of Marsamextt Harbour, the present site ofFort Tigné. The initial garrison of the fort was around one hundred and fifty knights and six hundred soldiers, the majority of whom wereSpanish, and sixty armed galley slaves. The garrison could be reinforced by boat from the forts across theGrand Harbour atBirgu andSenglea.[4]
During the bombardment of the fort, a cannon misfired and hit the top of its parapet, sending shards in all directions. Debris from the impact killed the gunner and mortally injured thecorsair and Ottoman admiralDragut, one of the most competent of the Ottoman commanders. The fort withstood the siege for 28 days, falling to the Turks on 23 June 1565. None of the defending knights survived, and only nine of the Maltese defenders survived by swimming across toFort St. Angelo on the other side of the Grand Harbour after Fort St Elmo fell. The long siege bought much needed time for the preparation of the other two fortresses and the arrival of reinforcements from Spain.[4]
After the siege, GrandmasterJean Parisot de Valette decided to build a new city on the peninsula. Construction started in 1566, andFrancesco Laparelli was sent by the Pope to design the fortifications. The ruined Fort Saint Elmo was rebuilt and integrated within the city walls.
The fort was modified a number of times in the 17th century. The Vendôme Bastion was built in 1614, and in 1687 the Carafa Enceinte was built on the foreshore surrounding the entire fort. In the late 17th century, the fort was directly linked to the cavalier and part of the ditch was filled in burying some of the original ramparts in the process.[5] In the 18th century, a newpolverista was built in the Vendome Bastion,[1] and stores were built in the area between the main fort and the Carafa Enceinte. These are known as Pinto Stores and they and the surrounding area form what is known as Lower Saint Elmo.[6]
On 8 September 1775, Fort Saint Elmo was captured by 13 rebel priests along withSaint James Cavalier in what became known as theRevolt of the Priests. The Order's flag was lowered and a banner of Saint Paul was raised instead. The Order managed to recapture St Elmo so the rebels in control of St James surrendered as well. Eventually the rebels were tried and three were executed while the others were exiled or imprisoned. The heads of the three executed men were displayed on the corners of St James Cavalier but were removed soon afterEmmanuel de Rohan-Polduc was elected Grandmaster in November of the same year.[7]
The fort was once again modified in the early 19th century by the British, when a musketry parapet was built. In 1855, the polverista at Vendome Bastion was converted into an armoury, and some small arms from thePalace Armoury were transferred there. In the 1870s, more works were done on Abercrombie's Bastion. In 1917, the first heart operation to be performed on a soldier was done at St Elmo.[8] In the interwar period gun emplacements were built to house new twin 6-pounder QF guns.[1]
The fort was the site of the first aerial bombardment of Malta on 11 June 1940. Among the people who were in the fort during the air raid was the military doctorĊensu Tabone, who later became President of Malta. He survived the attack, but six others were killed in the same air raid.[9]
On 26 July 1941, the Italianslaunched a seaborne attack on the Grand Harbour with twohuman torpedoes, fourMAS boats and sixMT boats. The force was detected early on by a British radar facility, and the coastal artillery at Saint Elmo opened fire when the Italians approached to close range. Fifteen of the attackers were killed and 18 captured, and all the human torpedoes and MT boats, along with two of the MAS boats were lost. One of the MT boats hitSt. Elmo Bridge, which linked the breakwater with the tip of the peninsula near the fort, and the bridge collapsed. The bridge was never restored, and it was only in 2012 that a new one was built in its place with a similar but different design.[10]
Parts of the fort were severely damaged during the war and some scars of the bombing can still be seen to this day.[11] TheRoyal Malta Artillery left the fort on 26 March 1972, ending its long military history. Parts of the fort subsequently fell in disuse.
TheWorld Monuments Fund placed the fort on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of its significant deterioration due to factors such as lack of maintenance and security, natural aging, and exposure to the elements. Since 2009 major restoration works began,[12] and as of 2014 the restoration of Upper Saint Elmo and the Carafa enceinte was nearly complete.[13][14] Restoration work was completed in 2015.[15]
From 1975, part of the fort housed theNational War Museum, which contained military equipment and other things related to World War I and II. A replica of theGeorge Cross that wasawarded toMalta by KingGeorge VI in April 1942, was also on display in this museum.[16] The museum closed in September 2014,[17] and reopened in May 2015 having a larger collection.[18]
Since the mid-20th century, Fort Saint Elmo has also housed Malta's police academy. Other parts of the fort are used forIn Guardia andAlarme military reenactments.[19]
While the fort was being restored, some archaeological excavations were made and various elements of the original pre-1565 fort were uncovered. This was an important find because little of the original fort exists, mainly because Laparelli rebuilt it in 1566 and it underwent a lot of renovation between the 17th and 19th centuries.[5]
In November 2015 the fort was used as a media centre for theValletta Summit on Migration.[20] Foreign journalists stated that it was possibly "the most stunning venue which ever hosted an EU summit".[21]
Lower Saint Elmo was cleaned from the waste that accumulated over the years in 2015,[22] but has since fallen back to disrepair and is essentially abandoned.[23] Plans for restoration fell through multiple times.[24][25] The site proves to be considerably hard to access even for urban explorers.
The originalstar fort, sometimes known as Upper St. Elmo to distinguish it from the rest of the fort, consists of two demi-bastions, two flanks and two faces, a parade ground, barracks and a largecavalier. The fort included aravelin in 1565, but this was demolished during the fort's reconstruction after the siege.
The Main Entrance of Fort St.Elmo is known as the "Victoria Gate" and it is located at the bottom right corner of the fort. A gate known as thePorta del Soccorso serves as the main entrance to Upper St. Elmo.[26] The 15th-centuryChapel of St Anne is located within the fort's walls close to this gate,[27] and the 18th-centuryChurch of St Anne is found within the parade ground.[28]
After thefortifications of Valletta were built, Vendôme Bastion was constructed in 1614 linking theFrench Curtain to Fort St. Elmo. The bastion contains an echaugette, and it was eventually converted into a magazine, and later an armoury. The bastion is now part of theNational War Museum.[29]
The Carafa Enceinte, which was built starting from 1687, encloses the original fort as well as Vendôme Bastion. It consists of the following bastions and curtain walls:
Some barrack blocks are located in the area between Upper St. Elmo and the Carafa Enceinte.
Notes
Catholicorder of chivalry andsovereign subject ofinternational law, founded in 1099 inJerusalem,  Kingdom of Jerusalem | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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