La Sacra Conversazione, in Vittoriosa’s chapter hall, by Palma Vecchio, one of the mighty figures of the Italian Renaissance.

The medieval city of Birgu (Città Vittoriosa) lies on a promontory flanked by two ancient seaports – Porto delle Galere (now Dockyard Creek) and Porto degli Ebrei (now Kalkara Creek), protected by the impregnable Castrum Maris (Fort St Angelo) recently beautifully restored by Heritage Malta, and on the land front by one of the most impressive lines of fortifications in Europe, with St John’s Cavalier and St James Cavalier rising loftily to guard its unique three-gate entrance to this proud city.

Until the Knights of St John left Vittoriosa, where they had experienced their finest hour, to move to their new city of Valletta in 1571, the only settlement facing the sea was Vittoriosa, rendering it less insular and more connected to the outside world. It was a time when Porto Delle Galere teemed with galleys from the maritime states of Catalunya, Venice, Genoa, Pisa and other western ports, bringing with them not only economic stability but also mixture with European ethnic cultures that introduced artistic and architectural sophistication in the city.

Late medieval two-light window in the Sicolo- Chiaromonte style in the Catellan’s House.

In view of this, this maritime city has over the years been a leading protagonist in the gradual westernisation of Malta, ushering in a European cultural identity while the rest of the island, with the exception of Mdina, was still in the Dark Ages, earning a precarious living from land tillage and animal husbandry, and whose Christianity was the Byzantine rather than the Latin rite. In dress, customs and way of life the villages were more North African than European. Because of this unique distinction, Birgu, il borgo del castello, should be accorded recognition when Valletta, which owes its patrimony to Vittoriosa, is crowned European City of Culture.

In spite of the massive devastation of the last war, this maritime city possesses enough evidence of its essentially European ethos even before the coming of the knights in 1530. The area is packed with history and tradition. Wander across the battlements of Fort St Angelo, admire the architectural, palatial splendour of the Marina Grande, now a thriving, elegant yacht marina, visit its artistic churches and the superb surviving auberges and its beguiling winding streets and the layering of different cultures unfold.

This maritime city has been a protagonist in the gradual westernisation of Malta, ushering in a European cultural identity while the rest of the island, with the exception of Mdina, was still in the Dark Ages

Not everybody is aware that Fort St Angelo is much more than an indomitable fort that withstood the ferocious Ottoman siege of 1565. In fact, it is the embodiment of our history, culture and architecture. Malta’s history in the late Middle Ages was intimately bound with the fluctuating fortunes of the Castrum Maris, whose keeper, known as the Catellan, who were mainly Arago­nese, enjoyed great prestige and influence rivalling the powers of the Hakem, head of the Università, based in the walled city of Mdina.

Late medieval two-light window in the Sicolo- Norman style in the Collachio.

The cosmopolitan appearance of the Aragonene and other Europeans families living in Fort St Angelo and its suburb left their imprint on Birgu’s traditions, introducing the cult of St Lawrence, an early Christian martyr from Huesca (Aragon), the only parish at that time dedicated to a saint of the Latin rite. This is represented in a magnificent chiaroscuro masterpiece by Mattia Preti, his largest and favourite canvas behind the high altar of the parish church.

In the middle of the 16th century the Aragonese introduced in Vittoriosa the cult of Our Lady of Monserrat, to whom they dedicated a church on the waterfront decorated with an armorial shield of the noble family de Guevara, with an inscription in angular Gothic letters and the year of 1462.

Marian art, so pervasive in these islands, was first securely recorded in a document written in 1272 referring to a church of Santa Maria in the Castrum Maris. During the short Anjevin period, a public deed was drawn up on June 1, 1274, in which a full inventory of the contents of Fort St Angelo was given. The liturgical items listed in this church also indicate that the process of the Latin liturgy was already firmly established in this area, in an island where Greek Christianity was more widespread.

Girolamo Spanuoglo’s The Candle Madonna, bearing the year 1546, at Santa Scolastica nunnery.

The erudite art historian Prof. Mario Buhagiar, who 25 years ago identified a forgotten painting in the sacristy of St Lawrence as a priceless painting of the high Venetian period known as La Sacra Conversatione, describes the church of St Anne in the top part of the fort, as “one of the key buildings in the evolution of ecclesiastical architecture in Malta”. This church and the Castellan’s House nearby are two important landmarks in the proliferation of Gothic quadripartite vaulting in Malta, which was later introduced at Ta’ Giesu Church, Rabat, where the first Grand Master Philippe de Villiers de L’Isle Adam succumbed to severe sunstroke after a day’s hunting at Buskett. A marble slab in the convent commemorates this sad event.

An innovative feature in secular architecture is also evident in the Castellan’s residence by an exquisite medieval two-light window in Sicolo-Chiaromonte style, revealing the close Sicilian connection. In the heart of the Collachio, where most of the Vittoriosa auberges were located, there is a similar window of the period in one of the narrow winding streets.

Opposite the notorious oubliette at Fort St Angelo, where hardened criminals were kept, stands the ancient rock-cut church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which is still under the jurisdiction of Vittoriosa parish. Two medieval paintings of great historical and artistic importance once adorned this church: an Italo- Byzantine icon of the Virgin Suckling the Child, first recorded in the Dominican church of Vittoriosa in 1538; and another icon dated 1462 of a Madonna del Soccorso, later venerated in the parish of St Lawrence. Both paintings were unfortunately lost in the savage German air raids of 1941.

Art historian Mario Buhagiar describes the church of St Anne in the top part of the fort, as ‘one of the key buildings in the evolution of ecclesiastical architecture in Malta

An early painting at the nunnery of Santa Scolastica in Vittoriosa consists of a polyptych of The Candlemas Madonna flanked by St Benedict and Santa Scolastica, bearing the year 1546, painted by Girolamo Spagnuolo, a Sicilian master who had settled in Vittoriosa after the coming of the knights.

St Lawrence Enthronedby an unknown 16th century master. This copy of the destroyed original is kept in the parish hall.

The medieval watch tower is another architectural gem that also perished in the German blitz of 1942. Sadly, the hope of it being rebuilt has also vanished into thin air even though genuine history lovers are still clamouring for it to be reconstructed to its former majestic state. This medieval watch tower, a six-floored structure that dominated the Vittoriosa piazza long before the coming of the knights in 1530, was, until it perished in the German blitz, an iconic symbol of resistance that had witnessed Malta’s history unfold through the ages. It is another landmark of medieval architecture, which with the initiation of the Melitan moulding, is another credential for the city’s recognition as a European City of Culture in 2018.

To be continued

Lino Bugeja is author of Vittoriosa – Ancient City of Culture.