Crowning the rocky outcrop at the tip of the Birgu peninsula, Fort St Angelo has been keeping a watchful eye on the Grand Harbour since time immemorial. The site could have attracted attention since Neolithic times, while its perched and conveniently sized crest looks to have hosted a monumental religious compound by the Classical period. Indeed, an extensive tract of ancient masonry is still preserved in situ.
The eventual transformation of this compound into a stronghold is attributed to the Arabs who ruled the islands from 870 to 1091. Legend has it that Count Roger founded a chapel therein following the Norman Conquest in 1091. The 13th century provides the earliest known documentary references and description of the then medieval castle.
By 1274, Fort St Angelo, or Castrum Maris (castle by the sea) as known at the time, consisted of two enclosures, namely a lower castro exteriore and an upper castro interiore, each demarcated by a towering enceinte stiffened with round towers. More importantly, it was viewed by the Sicilian overlords as a guarantee of their interests in the Maltese Islands, and thereby commonly administered by loyal subjects of foreign extraction.
Albeit not in full support of the local cause throughout, it instilled a sense of security in the islanders and sustained the flourishing of adjoining Birgu, the only coastal settlement in Malta and Gozo that survived the perennial threat posed by corsairing. Significantly, the Castrum Maris succeeded to suppress the earliest known Ottoman assault on Malta in 1488.
After 1530, the new tenants of the Maltese Islands turned the Castrum Maris, christened Fort St Angelo, into their headquarters and remodelled extensively the then aging castle with the construction of a series of artillery platforms. The rejuvenated sentinel of the Grand Harbour played a determining role during the Great Siege of 1565.
It coordinated the day-to-day defensive and offensive strategies, housed the main provisions’ depot, inflicted havoc in the Ottoman’s makeshift batteries at Mount Xebb-er-Ras (Valletta) and San Salvatore Hill (Kalkara), and spoiled the besiegers’ astute plan to take the defenders by surprise on 15 July.
The transfer of the Order’s headquarters to Valletta in 1571 and the crafting of an impressive network of defensive lines around the Grand Harbour and along the coast during the subsequent 100 years had little bearing, if any at all, on the relevance of Fort St Angelo as being key for the defence of the Maltese Islands. In the 1680s, the Flemish military engineer Carlos Grunenbergh spearheaded its transformation into a forceful work, including four intimidating gun platforms with a staggering capacity of over 50 artillery pieces aimed at the entrance of the Grand Harbour.
The fort’s vocation stood unchallenged with the settling in of the British colonisers at the turn of the 19th century. Its daunting firepower received a major upgrade in 1872 with the introduction of three 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns but was superseded during the 1880s with the installation of two monstrous 100-ton guns at Fort Rinella (Kalkara) and at Fort Cambridge (Sliema) respectively.
Within two decades, Fort St Angelo received an equally prestigious new lease of life. In 1906, the mighty Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet relocated its command hub inside this iconic landmark. It metamorphosed into a stone frigate, namely an onshore Royal Naval property run as a naval ship. The fort was renamed HMS Egmont in 1912, and eventually HMS St Angelo in 1933.
Fort St Angelo was called into action again during World War II offering protection against the ruthless Axis air raids. Significantly, it was the last military establishment to be vacated by the foreign forces on 31 March 1979.
