Qolla l-Bajda Battery
| Qolla l-Bajda Battery | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Alternative name (s): | Batterija tal-Qolla l-Bajda | |
| Creation time : | 1715/16 | |
| Conservation status: | preserved with modern structural changes | |
| Construction: | Limestone - masonry | |
| Place: | Qbajjar, Żebbuġ municipality , Gozo | |
| Geographical location | 36 ° 4 '47.4 " N , 14 ° 15' 4.6" E | |
|
||
The Qolla l-Bajda Battery (sometimes also called Qbajjar Battery ) is a fortification on the island of Gozo built during the reign of the Order of St. John in the 18th century . It is Malta's northernmost historical fortification and one of the two remaining coastal batteries of Gozo.
history
Under the grand masters Wignacourt , Lascaris and de Redin , the Johanniter had surrounded the islands of Malta , Gozo and Comino with a dense network of coastal watch towers in the 17th century . These had the task of detecting the approach of an enemy fleet at an early stage and alerting the garrisons in the fortified cities. But they were too weak to fight corsairs or enemy troops directly. In 1714, the French fortress engineers Jacques de Camus d'Arginy, Bernard de Fontet and François Bachelieu drew up a plan that provided for the establishment of fortified defensive positions - gun batteries and redoubts - on all shallow and thus landing-endangered sections of the coast, so that ships and landing troops could come under artillery fire can.
The Qolla l-Bajda Battery was built in 1715 and 1716 to protect Qbajjar Bay and Marsalforn Bay . It was abandoned in the 19th century and only used again as observation post no.5 during World War II .
description
The Qolla l-Bajda Battery is strategically located on the headland between Xwejni Bay in the west and Qbajjar Bay in the east. The battery, made of limestone masonry, consists of a semicircular, lake-side gun platform as well as residential and warehouse buildings in the rear. On the land side, the position is protected against attacks by the walls of the two log houses connected by a short wall . There was a narrow entrance in the wall, which was reached via a few steps and a wooden drawbridge . Loopholes in the log houses made it possible to coat the stairs with muskets in the event of an attack . The gun platform was surrounded by a ditch filled with water and a parapet with battlements , which had six windows for cannons. The armament initially consisted of six light cannons (6- and 8-pounders) and in 1770 of four 6-pounders with 276 cannon balls and 60 pieces of grape-hail ammunition .
Current condition
In 1978 the state-owned historical building was leased for a period of 25 years. It has been renovated and rebuilt. The entrance was enlarged and the drawbridge was replaced by a staircase. It served as a discotheque and night club until 2003. In 2007 the state demanded the evacuation of the building, against which the former tenants took legal action. The legal dispute had not yet been resolved by 2017. The building was hit by vandalism several times .
The Qolla l-Bajda Battery has been on the list of cultural property of Malta (National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands) under number 1417 since 1995 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen C. Spiteri: St Anthony Battery ( Memento from January 16, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) on Military Architecture (English)
- ↑ a b Bojan Ivanov: Qolla l-Bajda Battery, Malta: From artillery battery to discotheque to ruin on the Abandoned Spaces website , accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ a b Qolla Bajda Battery (PDF; 655 kB) in the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands from June 28, 2013 (English), accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ Il-Qolla Battery on Malta Military (English), accessed on 7 March of 2019.
- ↑ Qolla il-Bajda Battery - Qbajjar Gozo on the Maltese History & Heritage website , accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ Keith Micallef: Historic battery at risk as legal battle drags on in Times of Malta on April 4, 2016, accessed on March 6, 2019.
- ↑ Qbajjar 'tower' at risk of collapse, MP warns in Times of Malta on April 11, 2017 (English), accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ Petra Caruana Dingli: Qolla l-Bajda Battery on the website of Dín l-Art Ħelwa on October 1, 2013 (English), accessed on March 7, 2019.
- ↑ Wirt Ghawdex condemns vandalism of Qolla l-Bajda Battery on Gozo News on October 1, 2013 (English), accessed on March 7, 2019.