Buġibba Battery

Buġibba Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' Buġibba), also known as Elbene Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' Bileben),[1] was an artillery battery in Buġibba, limits of St. Paul's Bay, Malta. It was built in the 18th century, by the Order of St. John, as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese islands. The battery no longer exists, but its rock-hewn ditch and some foundations can still be noticed.

Buġibba Battery
Batterija ta' Buġibba
Buġibba, St. Paul's Bay, Malta
The site of Bugibba Battery, showing the remains of the ditch
Coordinates35°57′10.2″N 14°24′41.9″E
TypeArtillery battery
Site information
OwnerGovernment of Malta
ConditionOnly rock-hewn ditch and foundations remain
Site history
Built18th century
Built byOrder of Saint John
MaterialsLimestone
FateDemolished

History
Some remains of the battery

Buġibba Battery was built in the 18th century during one of the building programmes of coastal batteries in Malta. Sources conflict as to whether it was built in 1715–16,[2] or sometime between 1747 and 1784.[3] It was one of a series of fortifications defending St. Paul's Bay, with the nearest ones to it being Wignacourt Tower to the southwest and Qawra Tower to the northeast.

The battery's exact layout is not known, but it had a semi-circular gun platform with a parapet, and a blockhouse at the rear. It was surrounded by a ditch which was filled with seawater.[4]

Present day

Today, the battery no longer exists, but some of its rock-hewn foundations and ditch can still be seen.[2] The ditch and the remains are listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.[2]

Further reading
  • Spiteri, Stephen C. (1994). Fortresses of the Cross: Hospitaller Military Architecture (1136-1798). Heritage Interpretation Services. p. 520. ISBN 9789990996531.

References
  1. de Boisgelin, Louis (1805). Ancient and Modern Malta: Containing a Full and Accurate Account of the Present State of the Islands of Malta and Goza, the History of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Also a Narrative of the Events which Attended the Capture of These Islands by the French, and Their Conquest by the English: and an Appendix, Containing Authentic State Papers and Other Documents - Volume II. London: Richard Phillips. p. 189.
  2. "Buġibba Battery" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 23, 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  3. Farrugia Randon, Stanley (2015). Heritage Saved – Din l-Art Ħelwa – 1965–2015. Luqa: Miller Distributors Ltd. p. 121. ISBN 9789995752132.
  4. Spiteri, Stephen C. (10 April 2010). "18th Century Hospitaller Coastal Batteries". MilitaryArchitecture.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
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