Fort St Angelo sits at the tip of Birgu, in the middle of the Grand Harbour, with water on three sides.
There has been a fort on that rock since long before the Knights arrived.
The Great Siege of 1565
This was the headquarters of the Order, and it held out for the whole siege.
Fort St Elmo, across the water, fell after about a month. St Angelo did not fall at all.
A chain was strung across the creek below it to stop Ottoman boats getting in behind the defences. Grand Master Jean de Valette commanded from here.
When it was a Royal Navy ship
The British took it over and ran it as a shore establishment, commissioned as a ship rather than a building, for well over a century.
Sailors were posted to HMS St Angelo as if joining a vessel. It was bombed repeatedly in the Second World War and stayed in use throughout.
What you can visit
Most of the fort is open, and it is run by Heritage Malta.
- The batteries and gun positions facing the harbour.
- The chapel and the medieval lower levels.
- The upper platform, with the view straight back at Valletta.
The very top is still held by the Order of St John and is not open to visitors. You will see the flag flying over it.
Allow about an hour. There is a lot of climbing and very little shade.
Getting there
Take the ferry from Valletta to Birgu and walk along the waterfront.
About 5 minutes on the water and 10 on foot. You approach the fort the way everyone did for four hundred years, which the bus does not give you.
The ferry runs from the quay at the bottom of the Barrakka Lift.
While you are in Birgu
The Inquisitor’s Palace and the Malta Maritime Museum are both a few minutes’ walk away.
Birgu is one of the Three Cities and the streets behind the waterfront are older than Valletta.
