Fort St.Angelo, Vittoriosa, Malta

Fort St. Angelo may not be the oldest, grandest or finest stronghold, but it is the boldest memorial of the strategic importance of Malta and the innumerable lives sacrificed for their dominion.  Its ancient origins date back between 5 and 10 million years ago; water erosion and sea level fluctuations contributed to the formation of the grand harbour.  Fort St. Angelo was founded much latter. The fort’s site is believed to have hosted a corresponding megalithic complex around 3600-2500BC. By 700BC during the Phoenician period, maritime activity increased and the site must have assumed an important role n the control of sea traffic. It is theorised that Fort St. Angelo’s site was annexed by the Byzantine Empire and the fort evolved into a stronghold. By Malta’s Arab conquest in 870, it is presumed that Late Classical stronghold must have been maintained.

Fashioned around a statically located hillock at the tip of the Birgu (Vittoriosa) peninsula, the present fabric is the new sum of countless modifications and additions over several centuries, if not millennia. A robust stronghold must have existed by late antiquity. This compromised of the defensive work of note in the grand harbour until the arrival of the Order of St. John in 1530, and was repeatedly enlarged and upgraded to reflect the advancements of military warfare. The Knights of Malta who extensively remodelled the castrum maris and transformed it in the their first headquarters and added a series of artillery platforms. Thus, this fort was instrumental in the outcome of the Great Siege of 1565. It coordinated defensive and offensive strategies, houses the main provisions, an inflicted havoc on the Ottoman’s makeshift batteries at Mount Scibberras, San Salavatore hill in Kalkara, and spoiled the besiegers’ plans on Senglea on July 15th.

at the turn of the 19th century fort received a major upgrade in 1872 with the introduction of three 9-inch rifle muzzle loading guns, but was surpassed during the 1880s with the installation of a monstrous100-ton gun at Fort Rinella (Kalkara) and at Fort Cambridg (Sliema) respectively. In 1906 the mighty Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet relocated its command hub inside the fort. Fort St. Angelo was called to action once again during WW2 to offer protection against the Axis air raids, while the last detachment of foreign forced to bid farewell to this unsinkable fortress of Malta in March 1979 marched out of its towering walls.

A place of such history is naturally reputed to be haunted, and one of Fort St. Angelo’s most infamous ghost is of the Grey Lady. Her legend is traced back to the first governor of Siculo-Norman times, who was of Sicilian-Aragonese origins and a member of the family Di Nava. The Grey Lady was said to be the mistress of Captain di Nava who resided at the fort. Tired of being simply the mistress, she tried to protest, the governor instructed his guards to silence her. Taken away by guards, they murdered and threw her body thrown in a cell. When Di Nava found what the guards had done, he had them murdered in turn. Local ledged states that when three skeletons were found within the fort’s walls, two male and one female –who was wearing a grey garb. Hence, the Grey Lady is said to haunt the fort since.