FWA supports Mepa decision on Fort St. Angelo
Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna fully supports the decision taken today by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority against the conversion of the historic de Guerral Battery at Fort St. Angelo into a restaurant. FWA strongly believes that this battery should simply be restored and presented as part of a unique visitor experience within the context of a revamped Fort St. Angelo. Fort St. Angelo is one of Malta’s national icons and should be treated with respect. FWA thinks that past decisions taken about this fort were short-sighted and wrong particularly in the case where parts of it were allocated for private accommodation and commercial use. In deciding upon the future of this fort one should have thought of preserving its integrity first and foremost. The decision taken today goes some way in redressing this issue.
The de Guerral Battery is a low lying sea battery built as such to allow its guns to skim off boats approaching the fort or trying to force their way into the harbor. It is partly excavated and partly built from masonry possibly using the same stone quarried on site. It goes back to the time of the Great Siege when it was built in a rush to counter-act an apparent Ottoman sea-borne attack. Its name is said to derive from that of the Knight who was in charge from its construction.