Restoration of Qala battery under way

Din L-Art Helwa has reported good progress in work being done on the restoration of St. Anthony’s Battery at Qala Point in Gozo. The project was entrusted to the organisation by MEPA and is being co-funded by Din L-Art Helwa, the Qala Local Council and MEPA's Environmental Fund.

The coastal battery of Sant Antnin, as it is locally known, has suffered the ravages of time and vandalism. Much of its strong hardstone has been misappropriated to neighbouring farmsteads and its magnificent coat of arms over its main gate were only recently stolen. Many of the remaining walls have fallen victim to the elements. It stands isolated in the remotest point of Qala guarding the straits between Gozo and Comino and accessibility is difficult.

St Anthony’s Battery which was built in 1732 by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. Itis one of the only two coastal batteries built by the Order of St. John to have survived in Gozo, the other being at Il-Qbajjar, outside Marsalforn.

Designed on a regular plan with five faces of embrasures for eleven guns and with ancillary accommodation inside the battery it has a gorge wall with a projecting tenaille all pierced with musketry loopholes. Above the main gate of the battery, were carved two shields - the Cross of the Order and Vilhena's Coat of Arms.

The restoration project is expected to be carried out within two years at a cost of approximately €68,000.