Built by the Knights and used to protect priceless tapestries and paintings from World War II bombs, the sally port buried in St Michael’s bastion will become an important link for pedestrians heading into Valletta.
The 75-metre tunnel, which links the Marsamxett end of South Street to the ditch below City Gate, will be given a new lease of life through a €1 million government project to restore the area and create a new access point.
Blocked off and disused for years, one of the entrances to the sally port is right beneath the offices of architectural firm AP in Sapper Street.
One of the firm’s partners, David Felice, explained that they noticed a change in the flow of people and cars to the area next to Hastings Garden once City Gate and the road above it had been demolished. The partial closure of Pope Pius V Street, the road above the gate crossing Republic Street, significantly altered access to the city.
“We were trying to think of another access point to the city as this part has become a bit cut off, when we realised that we were actually sitting on one,” he said.
The firm turned to other stakeholders – Valletta local council, National Museum of Fine Arts and Rehabilitation Projects Office – with their idea. The Resources Ministry liked the proposal, announced the project in January and has filed an application with the planning authority.
Sally ports were originally a means of communication between the inner city and the outer lines of defence and allowed troops to move inconspicuously within the fortifications and support defensive operations or even carry out attacks.
The sally port in St Michael’s bastions has been used as a private garage as well as an air-raid shelter during World War II. But as enemy bombs rained down on Valletta, it also protected paintings and tapestries from St John’s Co-Cathedral and the Palace, stored deep inside.
Marie Louise Musumeci, who chairs the Rehabilitation Project Committees, believes in the importance of sally ports, pointing out that in other cities they created easy pedestrian access with state-of-the-art mechanised walkways.
The plan for Valletta is for people to park their cars in the ditch and then use the sally port for easy passage across the city.