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30-674: Fort Pembroke was built by the British to defend the Grand Harbour as well as part of the Victoria Lines . The building of the fort was proposed in a defence committee recommendation in 1873, and construction took four years, starting on 24 January 1875 and finishing in December 1878. The fort has an elongated hexagonal shape, surrounded by a ditch and glacis . It contained underground magazines and casemated garrison quarters. It

60-464: A concave facade, with the forecourt and entrance passage to the central court being stone-paved. This stone paving is unique to Kordin III, as this has not been found in any other temples of Malta. Behind the temple are some small rooms, which were possibly used as storerooms but could have also been an irregular minor temple. The first part of the temple is believed to have been built in around 3700 BC, during

90-587: A three kilometer radius of Floriana. This is now one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. The harbours and the surrounding areas make up Malta's Northern and Southern Harbour Districts . Together, these districts contain 27 of the 68 local councils . They have a population of 213,722 which is over 47% of the total population of the Maltese islands. The Maltese islands have a long history , mainly due to their strategic location and natural harbours, mainly

120-546: Is formed by the Sciberras peninsula , which is largely covered by the city of Valletta and its suburb Floriana . This peninsula also divides Grand Harbour from a second parallel natural harbour, Marsamxett Harbour . The main waterway of Grand Harbour continues inland almost to Marsa . The southeastern shore of the harbour is formed by a number of inlets and headlands, principally Rinella Creek, Kalkara Creek, Dockyard Creek, and French Creek, which are covered by Kalkara and

150-442: Is made of hard limestone brought from over 2 kilometres away so it is highly probable that it was for grinding corn (a multiple quern) and contemporary with the temple, rather than for grinding 'deffun', the traditional Maltese roofing material, which would make it considerably more recent. The site was cleared from debris by Cesare Vassallo in the 1870s. Antonio Annetto Caruana discovered further clusters of megalithic monuments in

180-551: The Maltese Government unveiled 20 proposed regeneration projects that would revamp the area while respecting its historic value. As of May 2021 the harbour is undergoing renovation works initiated by Infrastructure Malta and sponsored by the European Union with the goals of electrifying the harbour to produce a 90% decrease in harmful emissions from ships. Shorepower units are to be installed to eliminate

210-565: The Mġarr phase . Most of the structure dates back to the Ġgantija phase , and the complex was still in use during the Tarxien phase , when the facade was rebuilt. The site is believed to have been abandoned in around 2500 BC. A 2.75 metre-long trough was found lying across the entrance to the temple's left apse, and this is generally considered as the most notable feature of the site. The trough has seven deep transverse grooves produced by grinding. It

240-453: The Port of Marsa , is a natural harbour on the island of Malta . It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks ( Malta Dockyard ), wharves , and fortifications . The harbour mouth faces north-east and is bounded to the north by Saint Elmo Point and further sheltered by an isolated breakwater and is bounded to the south by Ricasoli Point. Its north-western shore

270-463: The Three Cities : Cospicua , Vittoriosa , and Senglea . The harbour has been described as Malta's greatest geographic asset. With its partner harbour of Marsamxett, Grand Harbour lies at the centre of gently rising ground. Settlements have grown all around the twin harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large conurbation . Much of Malta's population lives within

300-693: The 1550s, a tornado struck the Grand Harbour, killing 600 people and destroying a shipping armada. The area was the scene of much of the fighting in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 when the Ottomans attempted to eject the Order of St John but were ultimately defeated. After the siege, the capital city of Valletta was built on the Sciberras peninsula on the north west shore of the harbour. Over

330-541: The 17th century the site belonged to Giovanni Francesco Abela . He had excavated several sites in the whereabouts, and had his country residence in the area. He had originally planned to write his will to the Order, but eventually left his villa, that was used as Malta's first museum, known as Museo di San Giacomo , and the surrounding lands to the Jesuits. The land still belonged to the Jesuits , until their expulsion in

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360-485: The 18th century by the Order when all their land and property was taken by the treasury . The site was excavated during the Order of St. John on the order of Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca by archeologist Gio Antonio Barbaro. The temples were then extensively excavated by Sir Themistocles Zammit during the British period. Originally there were three temple complexes, but two of these have been destroyed, and only

390-656: The British colonial rule, the harbour became a strategic base for the Royal Navy and the base of the Mediterranean Fleet . The whole area was savagely bombed during the Second Siege of Malta during World War II , as the docks and military installations around the port became targets for Axis bombers . However collateral damage wrecked much of Valletta and The Three Cities, and caused large numbers of civilian casualties . An Italian naval raid on

420-502: The Grand Harbour as well as Marsamxett. The Grand Harbour has been used since prehistoric times. Megalithic remains have been found on the shores of the Grand Harbour. The Kordin Temples , the earliest of which date back to around 3700 BC, overlooked the harbour from Corradino Heights. Another megalithic structure possibly existed underwater off Fort Saint Angelo, but this can no longer be seen. Punic and Roman remains were also found on

450-484: The Grand Harbour, but did not attack as they found the town of Birgu too well fortified to attack. Although this attempt was unsuccessful, the Ottoman force later managed to sack Gozo and conquer Tripoli within the same campaign. After the attack, Fort Saint Elmo and Fort Saint Michael were built to better protect the harbour in any future attacks. The city of Senglea was also founded soon afterwards. Later on in

480-482: The area in 1882, and the site was properly excavated by Thomas Ashby and Thomas Eric Peet in 1909. Other excavations were undertaken by John Davies Evans in 1953 and by David Trump in 1961. A walled enclosure was built around the temple in 1925, and it is kept locked to give it maximum protection. Like Kordin I and II, the temple was also damaged in World War II , but its remains were not built over after

510-513: The fort was used as a prisoner-of-war camp , housing German prisoners. The British military establishments in Pembroke were closed in 1978 and the limestone-and-concrete fort remained unused for nine years until 1987. Verdala International School moved to the fort from Fort Verdala in 1987. Since then, the school has grown from 110 students to over 500 in 2024. Due to this increase, the school has expanded to include some barrack blocks close to

540-477: The fort. The campus is leased by the government to the school until 2072. The fort was scheduled by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) as a Grade 1 national monument in 1996. The protection status was revised to include the surviving glacis of the fort in 2009. Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour ( Maltese : il-Port il-Kbir ; Italian : Porto Grande ), also known as

570-469: The harbour was repelled on the early of 26 July 1941. Malta Dockyard is still active but with the departure of the British Military the harbour lost much of its military significance. A considerable part of Malta's commercial shipping is now handled by the new free port at Kalafrana , so the harbour is much quieter than it was in the first half of the 20th century. In September 2007,

600-616: The need for fossil fuel -powered engines to run while ships are docked. Coordinates : 35°53′42″N 14°31′14″E  /  35.89500°N 14.52056°E  / 35.89500; 14.52056 Kordin Temples The Kordin Temples are a group of megalithic temples on Corradino Heights in Paola , Malta . The temples were inhabited from pre-history, by Phoenicians and then by the Greeks and Roman periods. In

630-622: The shores of the harbour, with the main Carthaginian port at Cospicua possibly having been the original namesake of the island in Greek and Latin . By the 12th and 13th centuries, the Castrum Maris had been built in what is now Birgu . It might have been built instead of ancient buildings, possibly Phoenician or Roman temples, or an Arab fortress. In 1283, the Battle of Malta

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660-685: The site of Kordin III survives. The remains were included on the Antiquities List of 1925. The temples are located on a plateau overlooking the Grand Harbour , originally called Kortin during the Order of St. John and now Kordin or Corradino. Other megalithic sites in the vicinity include the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni and the Tarxien Temples . Kordin I was located on a terrace on the west slopes of Corradino Heights, overlooking Marsa . It consisted of small and irregular rooms, and

690-561: The temple could be seen by the 1950s. In the 1960s, the site was built up as an industrial estate. Kordin III is the only temple on Corradino whose remains have survived. It is located just outside the Corradino Lines , close to the Church of St. Anthony of Padua and Mariam Al-Batool Mosque . The Kordin III complex consists of two temples. The larger one has a standard 3-apse plan, typical of Ġgantija phase design. The temple has

720-551: The war and can still be seen today. Although in poor condition, the temple is one of the most complete of the minor temples. In 2009, the viability of extending the World Heritage listing to Kordin III was examined. New excavations of the area around the temple began in 2015 by Caroline Malone and a team of students from the University of Malta . The site was managed by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna until 2016, when it

750-571: The years, more fortifications and settlements were founded within the Grand Harbour, including Fort Ricasoli and the towns of Floriana and Cospicua . During the French occupation of Malta , the harbour area was blockaded by Maltese rebels on land and the Royal Navy at sea. The French eventually capitulated in September 1800 and Malta became a British protectorate , later a colony . During

780-415: Was armed with three RML 11 inch 25 ton guns and one 64-pounder gun , which were mounted en barbette . By the mid-1890s, the fort's armament became obsolete, and instead of upgrading, the nearby Pembroke Battery was built. The fort became an ammunition depot and storage area for small arms ammunition. Its gate was widened and a fixed metal bridge replaced the original rolling bridge. In World War II ,

810-497: Was built on the site in the 1960s. Kordin II was located on the northern extent of Corradino, 137 metres away from Kordin I. It was used throughout the entire temple period, since pottery from all phases was found at the site. The chronology was difficult to figure out, and whether the entire building could be dated to the temple period is debatable. The first investigations of Kordin II were undertaken by Cesare Vassallo in 1840. The site

840-505: Was first excavated properly by Antonio Annetto Caruana in 1892, and excavation work continued by Albert Mayer in 1901 and was finished by Thomas Ashby and Thomas Eric Peet in 1908 and 1909. Part of the temple was destroyed by the Royal Engineers in 1871 to make way for the ditch of the Corradino Lines , before excavation even began. The temple was further damaged by aerial bombardment during World War II , and no remains of

870-531: Was fought at the entrance of the Grand Harbour. Aragonese forces defeated a larger Angevin force and captured 10 galleys. The Grand Harbour was the base for the Order of Saint John for 268 years, from 1530 to 1798. They settled in the city of Birgu and improved its fortifications, including rebuilding the Castrum Maris as Fort Saint Angelo . In July 1551, Barbary corsairs and Ottoman forces raided Malta . They landed at Marsamxett and marched upon

900-433: Was poorly preserved when it was discovered. It was first surveyed in the 1880s. The first excavations were made by Antonio Annetto Caruana , and were continued under Themistocles Zammit in 1908, and Thomas Ashby and Thomas Eric Peet in 1909. The temple was open to the elements and aerial bombardment during World War II . Virtually nothing remained by the 1950s, and the temple was obliterated after an industrial estate

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