Vittoriosa, the city of the iconic Great Siege of Malta, marks the first day of this epic encounter on May 18, 1565, with a fitting commemoration in memory of the Knights and the thousands of Maltese people who sacrificed their lives to defend the faith. The bitter siege, which earned this medieval city the proud title of Città Vittoriosa, was no ordinary skirmish; on the contrary it was characterised by feats of excep­tional courage and savage cruelty on both sides.

Against great odds, the island’s defenders under Grand Master Jean de Valette, fought with indomitable resolve against triumphant Islam, led by the might of the Ottoman Turks who were basking in the glory of their dazzling victories, threatening to subdue, and ultimately wipe out the Order of St John from the face of the earth. But at that moment in time in history, militant Islam had to battle against a religion, backed by a resistance in Vittoriosa which was as resolute, savage and ruthless as the Turks.

St James Cavalier (foreground) and St John’s Cavalier guarding the land-front fortifications of Vittoriosa.

The siege of 1565 has left an indelible mark on world history, to the extent that 200 years later the French philosopher Voltaire had every reason to exclaim “rien n’est plus connu que le siege de Malte” (nothing is better known than the siege of Malta). Successive historians and academics like Abbe Vertot, the German Friedrich Schiller, the Scottish novelist Walter Scott and many others were all moved and enamoured by the extraordinary bravery and strong faith displayed by the defenders.

In the past decade at least three historical novels based on the siege also found their place in English literature, namely The Sword and the Scimitar by David Ball, Blood Rock by James Jack­son and The Religion by Tim Willocks, who was inspired by the tragic drama The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeare.

A noted historian, Roger Craw­ley, has recently published a detailed account of the siege entitled Empires of the Sea, and Ste­phen Spiteri, an acknowledged research­er of the Knights and their fortifications, has given us a comprehensive and well-illustrated book about the siege.

Aerial view of the Grand Harbour showing Fort St Angelo flanked by Porto delle Galere (Dockyard Creek) and Porto della Infermeria (Kalkara Creek).

The struggle between the Order of St John and the Ottoman powers saw its beginning in 1297 when the Order was expelled from the Holy Land and later driven out of Cyprus. In 1308 the Knights captured Rhodes from the Byzantines and were again defeated by the Turks in 1522. Although it was superior in naval encounters, until the Siege of Malta the Order had never emerged victorious in military encounters.

Early on May 18, de Valette went to pray at the still extant chapel of Our Lady of Damascus and issued orders for the bell at the top of the medieval watch tower to give the signal. Guns were fired from St Angelo, Fort St Michael and Fort St Elmo to inform the people that the Turkish armada had been sighted to the east of the Grand Harbour

In a masterly move to regain control of the cen­tral Mediterranean, Charles V of Spain in 1524 offered the Maltese islands to the Order. After years of deliberation, Grand Master Phi­lippe de Villiers de l’Isle Adam reluctantly accep­ted, as it would provide it with a base from where it could continue its marauding raids on Ottoman galleys plying the Medi­terranean and beyond.

As it was a strong naval force the Order opted to station itself in the maritime city of Vittoriosa, which at the time was known as Birgu. The city possessed a fine galley-building arsenal that had already been mentioned in 1374 documents and was populated by intrepid sailors well-versed in navigation and armed combat. The Order arrived on October 26, 1530, and immediately took over the church of San Lorenzo-a-Mare as its conventual church. It also built a state-of-the-art hospital, the Sacra Infermeria, in 1533, erected fine auberges, strengthened the land- front fortifications of Birgu and the citadel of St Angelo as well as the battlements of Fort St Michael in Senglea and Fort St Elmo on the tip of the barren wasteland of Mount Xiberras.

A fresco by Perez d’Aleccio at the Palace, Valletta, giving a bird’s eye view of an attack on Fort St Michael during the siege, with Birgu on the right. Note the iron chain guarding Porto delle Galere.

In the early 1560s, Suleiman the Magnificent, now an old man, the sultan of the world’s greatest empire, had been alerted by his military advisers to the permanent threat of the Order’s marauding raids in the name of faith and personal riches. The intrepid corsair Dragut strongly advised the sultan “to smoke out that nest of vipers from the island” as soon as possible. This resolve was further com­pounded by the courageous exploits on the high seas and the Levant by the ruthless knight Romegas, who became the bogeyman of Turkish mothers.

Early in 1565, news reached de Valette that Suleiman the Magnificent, who 70 years earlier had expelled the Knights from Rhodes, was preparing a formidable armada and thousands of his elite soldiers to attack Malta. The Order immediately recalled all knights, the flower of European nobility, to their Birgu auberges. In February, a Spanish mercenary force arrived in the maritime city. Among its ranks was an Italian soldier, Franesco Balbi di Correggio, who wrote a day by day diary of the epic siege.

A huge chain brought from Venice a year before was laid across the entrance of Porto delle Galere from the tip of Fort St Angelo to Senglea Point and a temporary floating wooden bridge linked the Birgu Marina with Fort St Michael for easy deployment of troops.

Many outlying villages were deserted and their whole population took refuge behind the walled cities of Birgu and Mdina. In fact, records show that not a single birth was registered in the large parish of Siġġiewi after February 18, 1565. Some Mdina noble families who had property in Syracuse and other cities left the island for the relative safety of Sicily. The city of Birgu stood alone, bracing itself for the bitter onslaught.

On May 17, the eve of the brutal siege, the Knights were assembled in their conventual church. Historical novelist Willocks, who has great reverence for Vittoriosa, described the scene in the church as follows:

Sadly the commemoration and celebrations were held exclusively in Valletta, a city that owes it origin to the heroic stand of Birgu and its citadel

“The conventual church of San Lorenzo stood shrouded in a spectral violet. Its opened doors pulsed yellow against the monumental facade and Orlando was drawn through the sacred portal. The flagstones were cold against his feet. The plain song made him shiver. San Lorenzo was the church of the Knights of St John the Baptist.

Facade of the church of St Lawrence, the church of the siege.

“The whole Convent of the Religion stood assembled as one and the stones shook as half a thousand soldiers of the Cross raised their voices to God. The monks of war stood rank upon rank in their plain black robes, meeker than lambs, fiercer than tigers, bound by love of Christ and St John the Baptist. Proud of bearing and fearless and singing, singing with a roaring exaltation.

“Smoking incense drifted along the aisle. The vast place glowed and flickered with countless burning candles. Yet it seemed that every ray of light emanated from the tortured figure of Christ raised high above the altar.”

Early on May 18, first day of the siege, de Valette went to pray at the still extant chapel of Our Lady of Damascus and issued orders for the huge Carbuni bell at the top of the medieval watch tower in the middle of the Birgu piazza to give the pre-arranged signal. Guns were fired from St Angelo, Fort St Michael and Fort St Elmo to inform the people that the Turkish armada had been sighted to the east of the Grand Harbour.

The medieval tower at Vittoriosa’s main square, an important landmark during the siege. It was destroyed during the German blitz of 1942.

According to the entry in Balbi’s diary, de Valette tried to limit the refugees seeking shelter in Birgu and he dispatched Commander Gabriel Gort to the extant Gate of Aragon to direct refugees to Fort St Michael in Senglea. The historic siege was now on.

Vittoriosa still retains places and sites directly connected with the siege – the Byzantine chapel of Our Lady of Damascus on the impressive church parvis, a favourite sanctuary of the devout de Valette. It was here that he prayed before rushing to the Post of Castille to personally assist the valiant defenders where the Turks had breached the fortifications. To this day, this historic site is still known as Il-Prexxa, a corruption of the Italian word breccia, meaning breach.

The following iconic sites are still extant to tell the tragic events: the former conventual church, the Victory column, erected by Grand Master Ramon Perellos “to proclaim the great event and to ensure its commemoration”, the burial sites in the church close, the battlements of Castille known as l’Artale della patria, the old armoury, the Sacra Infermeria, the siege maps published in the main cities of Europe, making the historic piazza with its tower the most famous in Europe, the lofty cavaliers of St John and St James, and the triumphal gates of Aragon and Provence, festooned with the biblical quotation “obumbrasti Super Caput mea in Die Belli (You have protected me in times of war). To ignore them in this anniversary year is a deep insult to the memory of our forefathers.

A Great Siege commemoration at the Victory monument in Vittoriosa on September 8, 1922.

For many years, Vittoriosa remained unusually silent on Victory Day celebrated on September 8, sidelined and ignored by the national festivities committee. Sadly the commemoration and celebrations were held exclusively in Valletta, a city that owes it origin to the heroic stand of Birgu and its citadel. Ironically it was also from this site that Birgu was bombarded incessantly by Turkish artillery.

It is time to put the record straight on this momentous occasion and hold all events in the authentic sites where they occurred 450 years ago. Valletta will have its hour of glory next year when it commemorates its foundation in 1566.

If this year Vittoriosa is once again snubbed, these famous lines by English poet Charles Wolfe will surely waft eerily with sepulchral voices as in a Greek tragedy across the harbour, pleading to the Grand Master and to those in the corridors of power in Valletta:

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note
As their corpses to the ramparts we hurried
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot,
Oe’r the graves where our heroes we buried.
No useless coffins enclosed their breasts
Nor in sheet or in shroud we wound them
But they lay like warriors taking their rest
With their martial clothes around them.
Slowly and sadly we laid them down
From the field of their fame fresh and gory
We carved not a line and we raised not a stone

But we left them alone with their glory.

But to the populace of Vittoriosa these unwept and unsung heroes “grow not old” and every September 8, after High Mass in the former conventual church, the archpriest of the collegiate church of St Lawrence blesses the graves “where our heroes we buried”.