[WATCH] Government to invest €1.6 million in restoration of Floriana fortifications

18,800 square meters of the Floriana Lines Fortifications overlooking the Marsamxett Habour will be restored

€1.6 million will have been invested in the restoration of the fortifications
€1.6 million will have been invested in the restoration of the fortifications

The Floriana Lines fortifications overlooking the Marsamxett Habour will be restored through an investment of €1.6 million, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said on Monday.

Speaking during a visit to the site of the fortifications, Bonnici highlighted the importance of continuing to enhance Malta's local cultural product through the strengthening of its heritage, which he said forms an intrinsic part of the basis of Malta's identity as a country.

“Thanks to this investment, we are restoring this formidable site to its former glory for everyone to appreciate. As a government, we are committed to keep on investing within the culture sector, for the benefit of the members of our community, as well as younger generations,” he said.

Works started towards the end of 2015 and are envisaged to be completed by June 2019. The focus of the works is the restoration of the faces, superior slopes and platform terraces.

It started with cleaning, including the removal of vegetation within the bastion walls, the opening of joints and the removal of defective pointing and renders, especially that which is cement-based, cleaning carefully through the use of various methods to remove black crust and biological growth.

The next step includes the treatment of deteriorated fabric, the pointing of joints, the stabilisation of detached masonry facings, and the reinstatement and reconstruction of missing or deteriorated sections of the limestone fabric.

The stretch of fortifications known as the Floriana Lines was conceived to provide further protection to the land in front of Valletta at the neck of the promontory. They were designed by Italian engineer Pietro Paolo Floriani during the Magistracy of Grand Master Antoine de Paule.

During the 17th century, Italian military engineer Antonio Maurizio Valperga designed the ‘ritirata’, which was built within the San Salvatore Bastion as a solution to correct defects in the fortifications. Valperga also projected the La Vittoria Bastion to provide some form of enfilading defence.

To protect the new bastion, Valperga created a large vault arcone within the side of the San Salvatore Bastion known as Barbara’s Arch, after the Maltese architect who built it. This large vaulted and skewed arcone presents one of the most interesting features of the area’s fortifications.

The Floriana fortifications experienced determination as a result of many factors, which include exposure and orientation, salt contamination, a biological attack on material properties of the stone, lack of maintenance, vegetation and the roots of trees within the masonry, structural defects and installation of superfluous accretions.

Bombing, during World War II, was also a factor, which inflicted damage to the fortifications as can be witnessed by a concentration of shrapnel marks and the loss of material.