Floriana lines
The Florian Lines (Maltese: Is-Swar tal-Furjana) are a line of fortifications in Floriana, Malta, surrounding the fortifications of Valletta and forming the outer defenses of the capital. Construction of the lines began in 1636 and they are named after the Italian military engineer who designed them, Pietro Paolo Floriani. The Floriana Lines were modified throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and saw use during the French blockade of 1798-1800. Today the fortifications remain largely intact, although largely in ruins and in need of restoration.
The Floriana Lines are considered among the most complicated and elaborate of Malta's Hospitaller fortifications. Since 1998, they have been on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as part of the knights' fortifications around the ports of Malta.
The city of Valletta was founded on March 28, 1566 by Jean de Valette, the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The city occupied about half of the Sciberras peninsula, a large promontory separating the Great Harbor from the Port of Marsamxett, and was protected by Italian-style fortifications, including a land front with four bastions, two knights and a deep moat. Although these fortifications were well designed, at the beginning of the century they were not strong enough to withstand a major attack due to new technological developments that increased the range of artillery.
In 1634, there were fears that the Ottomans would attack Malta. Grand Master Antoine de Paule asked Pope Urban VIII for help to improve the island's fortifications. The Pope sent Pietro Paolo Floriani to examine the defences, who in 1635 proposed building a second line of fortifications around the Valletta Land Front. These plans were strongly opposed by some members of the Order and military engineers, as the large garrison needed to man the lines was considered too expensive. De Paule decided to build the lines, as it would have been wrong to disagree with the Pope's military engineer. Sheriff Gattinara resigned from his position on the Fortifications Commission in protest.
Work began in 1636, but no ceremony was held to commemorate the laying of the foundation stone due to controversy surrounding the construction. Since the fortification was expensive, the new Grand Master, Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, imposed a new tax on real estate. This tax created a dispute between the Order and the clergy, who protested to the Pope. Some priests also influenced the population to participate in a national protest, but the plans were leaked to the authorities and the leaders were arrested.
The fortifications were named Floriana Lines after the name of their architect. By June 1640, the lines were considered partially defensible, although still incomplete.
Fears of an Ottoman attack grew again after the fall of Candia in 1669, and the following year Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner invited the military engineer Antonio Maurizio Valperga to improve the fortifications, at a time when the Floriana Lines were still under construction, and a number of weak points had been identified in their original design, especially because the semi-bastions forming the two extremities of the Land Front were too sharp and could not be defended well. Valperga attempted to correct these defects by making a series of alterations to the Baluarte de San Salvador at the western end of the lines, and constructing a false braga around the Land Front and a crowned hornabaque near the eastern end. In the 1680s some minor modifications were made by the Flemish engineer Charles de Grunenbergh.
Work on Valperga's modifications to the lines progressed slowly, and by the beginning of the century the exterior works, the glacis and the enclosure overlooking Marsamxett were unfinished. Work continued with another engineer, Charles François de Mondion, and the lines were largely completed when the Bomba Gate was built in 1721. Other modifications were made over the following decades, such as the construction of the North Trench around 1730.
In 1724 the suburb of Floriana was founded in the area between the Floriana Lines and the Valletta Land Front. The suburb was named Borgo Vilhena by Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, but was commonly known as Floriana. It is now a city in its own right.
French forces invaded Malta in June 1798, and the Order capitulated after a couple of days. The French occupied the island until September, when the Maltese rebelled and blockaded French forces in the port area with foreign help. The Floriana Lines remained under French control throughout the blockade, and the Maltese built the Tas-Samra Battery and a battery at Corradino to bombard them.
After the British took Malta in 1800, the lines remained a functional military establishment. A series of minor interventions were carried out, expanding the Puerta de las Bombas, demolishing a lunette and some other doors, and adding gunpowder stores and passageways.
The fortifications were included in the List of Antiquities of 1925, and are now also found in the national inventory of cultural heritage of the Maltese Islands.
In the 1970s, parts of the deck and glacis were destroyed to make way for large storage tanks. Today, the lines are still more or less intact, but some parts are quite deteriorated and in need of restoration.
The Floriana Land Front is a large bastioned enclosure that encloses the area of land close to Floriana.
It consists of:
The Land Front is surrounded by a moat, which also contained:
The exterior works are surrounded by a false braga, a moat, a covered path and a glacis.
The Marsamxett Enceinte is an enceinte that runs along the Marsamxett Harbor to Msida Bastion.
It is composed of:
In addition, the North Trench bastion enclosure is located behind the entire Marsamxett enceinte, acting as a secondary line of defense.
For its part, the Grand Port Precinct is made up of:
The Enceinte Marsamxett Campus consists of:.