Malta – Central Region – Manoel Island – Fort Manoel

Work on this fort started in 1722 and it was completed just over a decade later. It was later taken over by the British who used it as a naval base until 1906. It came back into use during the Second World War and it was damaged by air raids. This is the entrance into the site, although it’s unfortunately locked shut.

Restoration on the site is on-going as it had started to fall into disrepair and had also been vandalised in places. This included the crypt under the fortifications where bones belonging to the Knights had been scattered around.

Apparently the interiors are now secured in a generally good state and there are occasional special tours which take place. Hopefully over the next years something more substantial will be done here, perhaps a museum, which allows greater public access. I hope that it doesn’t become a housing development, but the developer paying for the restoration does seem to have that intention. They’ve put up a lot of photos of the site at http://www.midimalta.com/en/fort-manoel.