Restoration of Fort St Angelo

Architect Ruben Abela and his small team of dedicated workers from Heritage Malta are to be congratulated for the work they’re doing at Fort St Angelo (September 4), especially on the ramp and the clearance of rubble to uncover the drop-ditch and the arch spanning it to the main gate. Having had the pleasure of viewing the excavations, I would like to add a few words concerning some of the material since uncovered.

A number of hard stone blocks of a reasonable size (vażi) were among the rubble removed from the ditch beneath the bridge and were placed aside for safe storage. As we know, both the fort’s gatehouse and the orillion on d’Homedes Bastion were badly damaged by Axis bombs during World War II. The British naval authorities did not repair these two breaches and just made rudimentary patching until the damaged orillion was repaired when Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was Minister of Education and Culture.

Due to their durability, blocks of coralline limestone or hard stone (ġebel tal-qawwi) were used on the fort’s outer skin because they could withstand more to bombardment.

Therefore, since these blocks were uncovered in the proximity of these two war-damaged sections, one can easily assume that it’s there they had originated from.

Another fact I wish to recall is that the façade of the curtain from d’Homedes Bastion and Fort St Angelo’s main gate had collapsed back in the early 1980s. It was later rebuilt but, unfortunately, globigerina limestone (tal-franka) was used instead. Luckily, these stones, which happen to be of identical material as those uncovered recently, were not dumped but placed in a pile inside Fort Ricasoli.

The space they occupied was required due to the building of a film set but I had personally informed the production of their historical value and to be placed at a safer distance.

I believe these stones are still within the fort and should be identified, collected and safely stored to be used in St Angelo’s restoration project.