The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks ( Malta Dockyard), wharves, and

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

Description

The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by Saint Elmo Point and further sheltered by an isolated

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...

and is bounded to the south by Ricasoli Point. Its north west shore is formed by the

Sciberras peninsula The Sciberras Peninsula is a peninsula in the South Eastern Region of Malta, between the Grand Harbour in the south and Marsamxett Harbour in the north. At its end stands the Mount Sciberras, which gave its name to the peninsula. During the Arab ...

, which is largely covered by the city of

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 ...

and its

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

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 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. Development has grown up all around the twin harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

. Much of Malta's population lives within 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 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and Southern Harbour Districts. Together, these districts contain 27 of 68 local councils. They have a population of 213,722 which make up over 47% of the total population of the Maltese islands.

History

The Maltese islands have a long history, mainly due to their strategic location and natural harbours, mainly 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 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.MacGill, Thomas (1839)"A handbook, or guide, for stran ...

, 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 the shores of the harbour. 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 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 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 the 1550s, a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

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 The Great Siege of Malta ( Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 13 September ...

of 1565 when the Ottomans attempted to eject the Order of St John but were ultimately defeated. After the siege, the capital city of

was built on the Sciberras peninsula on the north west shore of the harbour. Over the years, more fortifications and settlements were founded within the Grand Harbour, including

Fort Ricasoli Fort Ricasoli ( mt, Forti Rikażli) is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding th ...

and the towns of Floriana and Cospicua. The New Dock at Malta, Illustrated London News, 24 October 1867

During the

French occupation of Malta The French occupation of Malta lasted from 1798 to 1800. It was established when the Order of Saint John surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798. In Malta, the French established a constitutional tradition in ...

, the harbour area was blockaded by Maltese rebels on land and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

at sea. The French eventually capitulated in September 1800 and Malta became a British protectorate, later a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

. During the British colonial rule, the harbour became a strategic base for the Royal Navy and the base of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

The whole area was savagely bombed during the Second Siege of Malta during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, as the docks and military installations around the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

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 the harbour was repelled on the early of 26 July 1941. HMS Victorious Malta 1967

Malta Dockyard is still active but with the departure of the

British Military The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

the harbour lost much of its military significance. A considerable part of Malta's commercial

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

is now handled by the new

free port Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which co ...

at Kalafrana, so the harbour is much quieter than it was in the first half of the 20th century. In September 2007, 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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

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 the need for

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...

-powered engines to run while ships are docked.

Coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is sig ...

Around the Grand Harbour from Fort Ricasoli to Fort St. Elmo

Giuseppe Caloriti - View of Valletta and the Three Cities

* Rinella Bay * Bighi * Kalkara Creek **Marina Road, Kalkara **Kalkara Strand, Kalkara **Mandraġġ Strand, Birgu * Fort St. Angelo * Dockyard Creek or Cottonera Marina **St. Angelo Strand, Birgu **Xatt il-Forn, Birgu **Xatt ir-Risq, Birgu **Xatt San Lawrenz, Birgu ** Dock No. 1,

Bormla Cospicua ( mt, Bormla ), also known by its titles Città Cospicua or Civitas Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Along with Birgu and Senglea, it is one of the Three Cities, located within the Grand ...

**Xatt Juan B. Azzopardi, Senglea * Fort Saint Michael * French Creek **Dock No. 2 **Ghajn Dwieli Road ** Corradino **Dock No. 6 *Ras Ħanżir Point * New Port **Shipwrights Wharf,

Paola Paola is a female given name, the Italian form of the name Paula. Notable people with the name include: People In arts and entertainment *Paola Del Medico (born 1950), Swiss singer * Paola e Chiara, pop music duo consisting of two sisters born ...

**Dock No. 7 **Xatt il-Mollijiet, Albert Town **Church Wharf, Marsa * Il-Menqa **Bridge Wharf, Marsa **Flagstone Wharf / Moll iċ-Ċangatura, Marsa **Lighters Wharf / il-Moll tal-Braken, Marsa **Timber Wharf / il-Moll tal-Ħatab, Marsa **Xatt l-Għassara tal-Għeneb, Marsa * Valletta Waterfront or Pinto Wharf, Floriana *Lascaris Wharf,

*Xatt il-Barriera, Valletta *Taħt iż-Żiemel * Fort St. Elmo

Gallery

File:Malta - Valletta - Valletta Breakwater + Kalkara - Ricasoli Breakwater (MSTHC) 03 ies.jpg, Ricasoli Breakwater
Kalkara File:Sudika Fort Ricasoli.jpg,

Kalkara File:Sudika Kalkara Bighi.jpg, Bighi
Kalkara File:Malta - Birgu + Kalkara + Kalkara Creek + election celebration (Lower Barrakka Gardens) 01 ies.jpg, Kalkara Creek
Kalkara and Birgu File:Malta - Birgu - Fort Saint Angelo (Upper Barrakka Gardens) 01 ies.jpg, Fort Saint Angelo
Birgu File:Malta - Senglea + The Spur (Herbert Ganado Gardens) 01 ies.jpg, The Spur
Senglea File:Malta - Senglea + French Creek (Herbert Ganado Gardens) 01 ies.jpg, French Creek
Senglea, Cospicua and Paola File:Malta - Cospicua - Dock No. 4 (MSTHC) 01 ies.jpg, Dock No. 4
Cospicua File:Malta, Dry Dock.jpg, Dock No. 6 (China Dock)
Cospicua File:Malta - Marsa - Il-Moll tax-Shipwrights (MSTHC) 01 ies.jpg, Shipwrights Wharf
Paola and Marsa File:Marsa Power Station 2009.jpg, Bridge Wharf and Marsa Power Station
Marsa File:Malta - Marsa - Il-Moll tal-Braken (MSTHC) 02 ies.jpg, Braken Wharf
Marsa File:Malta - Valletta - Xatt Lascaris+SS Peter and Paul Bastion+custom house+Upper Barrakka Gardens (MSTHC) 01 ies.jpg, Xatt Lascaris
Valletta File:Fort St. Elmo; Valletta, Malta.jpg, Fort Saint Elmo
Valletta File:Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Lanca - St. Elmo Bridge (MSTHC) 07 ies.jpg, St. Elmo Bridge
Valletta File:Malta - Valletta - Triq il-Lanca - Valletta Breakwater (Siege Bell) 01 ies.jpg, Valletta Breakwater
Valletta

References

External links