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The star-shaped Fort St Elmo is the most famous fort in Malta, built at the end of the peninsula
upon which the capital city of Valletta
was later built.
When the Knights of St John first landed in Malta
in 1530 the entrances to the Grand and Marsamuxett Harbour
were virtually undefended. Realising the need for a coast defence work with
gun platforms and a fort capable of withstanding a limited attack or raid,
various plans were drawn up. However, given the resources that were being
put into in the development of defences at Birgu and Fort St Angelo, funds
were insufficient and further development halted.
During the Great Siege of 1565 Fort St Elmo felt the fury of the Turkisk
armada attacks. Bombarded by massed batteries on the higher ground behind,
it took a punishment it was never designed to withstand and, remarkably,
withstood a siege by the finest Turkish soldiers for a full month. The
bravery of the people within, both Knights and local people, and the
ability of the knights to resupply and reinforce this beleagued fort across
the Grand Harbour during the hours of
darkness, ensured its survival.
Notwithstanding these acts of heroism and gallantry the fort finally fell
to the Turks on June 23 1565.
After the war, then merely a pile of rubble, Fort St Elmo was reconstructed
on its original foundations, therefore the original outline being retained
to this day.
The fall of Fort St Elmo to the Turkish on June 23, prompted Francesco
Laparelli, when designing the new fortified city of Valletta (today Malta's
capital city), to incorporate the rebuilt fort within the perimeter of the
new city.
In 1574, the Knights started the Sacra Infermeria (Holy Infirmary) on the
landward of Fort St Elmo. The Sacra Infermeria acquired international fame
for having the longest hospital ward (155m) and for its equipment and high
medical standards. During the 17th century this hospital took in everyone,
the sick, the destitute and the insane, regardless of religion and
nationality, and all patients were fed from silver plates and looked after
by novices, Knights and sometimes even the Grand Master himself. However
this soon changed, when the Knights became the only patients to eat off
silver plates.
As history would have it, when the Order was ousted from Malta,
Napoleon threw out the patients, looted the silver and melted it down to
pay the troops who had taken part in his Egyptian campaign.
The building was badly damaged during the Second World War. However, after
a thorough and long restoration, it finally reopened in 1979 as a The Malta
Conference Centre and the expert restoration, blending old with new, won it
the Europa Nostra Award.
The development of fortifications and defence systems of Fort St Elmo where
kept up until the late 1800s during the period defining the British
occupation. Then, a light for the defence of the minefield had been placed
on the rock below Abercrombie's curtain in May 1889, illuminating the path
for Brennan torpedoes, and it was now proposed to add a 45 degrees
dispersed beam mounted on Abercombie's curtain with four concentrated
moveable searchlights on the fort to be used as fighting lights for the
6-inch guns.
Fort St Elmo was used in battle until the last World War and had no
intention of again falling victim to the Italians, just as happened with
the Turks. In 1941 her guns fired in anger at the Italian explosive
motorboats and E boats trying to attack shipping in the harbours and
contributed, not only to the successful coast defence action, but also to
the survival of the Maltese people and the unsuccessful attempts of landing
by Fascist and Nazi forces.
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