Still in its raw state before a major restoration project starts, Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa managed to attract crowds of visitors during an open day yesterday, despite the heat that could have lured them to the beach instead.
Fort St Angelo boasted layers upon layers of history, spread over 1,000 years
Public interest in the neglected fort – the jewel of Malta’s military heritage – is evidently strong and should increase once the €13.4 million project is completed by mid-2015, opening up a new world of activity for locals and tourists alike.
Initial emergency works, costing €1.5 million, started a year ago and the project is moving into another phase, 85 per cent being financed through the European Regional Development Fund.
Tenders are being adjudicated for the complex works and one of the first steps is documenting the site through 3D laser scanning. Every stone undergoing restoration has already been mapped.
The project includes rehabilitating the fortification walls and consolidating the underlying rock, facing Kalkara, to check that it is stable and avoid any damage.
Archaeological investigations would also be carried out in synchrony with the delicate works, which would always be monitored by an independent archaeologist, site curator Matthew Balzan said.
Heritage Malta’s ongoing archaeological studies onsite are also targeting a mass grave of the victims of the Great Siege in 1565 and the plague in 1676.
A former sick bay at the top of the ramp and Malta’s first gunpowder magazine, dating back to the 16th century, will serve as a reception and orientation point, offering a taste of what to expect, while a cavalier is being transformed into the main interpretation centre.
Barrack blocks are earmarked for educational activities for children and visitors can peer into the underground prison cell where, legend has it, Caravaggio was jailed, and experience a virtual tour of the empty well the errant knights were kept in.
Parts of the fort would lend themselves well to unique conference and incentive events. Plans also include a live-in concept for global re-enactment groups, which can experience life in the same rudimentary conditions as the knights.
A cinema for officers from the 1920s, later used as a pigeon club, would be restored to an audio-visual and conference room. The idea is to retrieve the original furniture.
Fort St Angelo boasted layers upon layers of history, spread over 1,000 years, with the two chapels already mentioned in its first inventory of 1274, Mr Balzan said.
Tourism Minister Mario de Marco, who joined the crowds flowing into the site yesterday, said Fort St Angelo promised to be the country’s “number one heritage and culture destination”.
It had helped in the nation’s formation and represented all its history, with the added advantage of spectacular views, Dr de Marco pointed out. Families were already enjoying it in its raw state, let alone once the €14 million project was implemented.
Those thirsty for information on the fort could yesterday access the area leased by the Order of the Knights of St John, enjoy guided tours, re-enactments and conservation demonstrations.