Malta’s fortifications - a matter of geography and geology

Abstract

Few places around the shores of the Mediterranean can better attest to the adage that ‘fortifications are a direct product of geography’ than the stone-built defences of the Maltese Islands, erected by the Hospitaller Knights of the Order of St. John in the period 1530-1798. Indeed, three observations stand out from a study of the Maltese Islands and their long process of fortification, namely: (i) the strategic importance of the geographical position of Malta in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and the leading role it was to play in shaping the history of the region, (ii) the Islands’ harbours which provided a safe all-weather anchorage ideal for protecting large naval fleets and (iii) the lithic nature of the massive fortifications which were erected to defend these harbours and the rest of the islands from sea-borne attack and invasion.