Fort Madalena, also known as Fort Madliena (), is a

polygonal fort A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerab ...

Madliena Madliena (), formerly spelt Madalena, is an area in Swieqi, in Northern Region, Malta, Northern Region, Malta, formerly part of the adjacent town of Għargħur. Etymology It takes its name from a chapel dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, which w ...

, in the limits of

Swieqi Swieqi () is a town in the Eastern Region of Malta. It is a residential area just 15 minutes by bus from Sliema and within walking distance of Malta's nightlife and entertainment centres, Paceville and St. Julian's. As the town developed, re ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was built between 1878 and 1880 by the British as part of the Victoria Lines. The fort now falls under the responsibility of the

Armed Forces of Malta The Armed Forces of Malta () is the name given to the combined armed services of Malta. The AFM is a brigade sized organisation consisting of a headquarters and three separate regiments, with minimal air and naval forces. Since Malta is the ...

and is used by the St John Rescue Corps.

History

Fort Madalena was built by the British as part of the Victoria Lines, a line of fortifications along the northern part of Malta, dividing it from the more heavily populated south. It is one of three forts built along the lines, the other two being Fort Binġemma and Fort Mosta. Fort Madalena, which is located at the eastern extremity of the line, was second of the forts to be built. It was built on the site of a fifteenth-century chapel dedicated to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

, which gave the fort its name. Construction of the pentagonal fort began in 1878 and was completed in 1880, at a total cost of £9400. The fort itself is quite small, with the short sides of the pentagon being about 30 metres long. The entire fort is surrounded by a 6-metre deep and 4-metre wide ditch. It was armed with a single RML 11-inch gun, four 64-pounders, two 40-pounders and two field guns. Later on, an artillery battery was built around the pentagonal fort, facing the sea for coastal defence. The battery was armed with two BL 9.2-inch guns. In 1906, the RML 11-inch gun was replaced by BL 9.2-inch Mk X guns which had an effective range of about 8000 yards. Although the Victoria Lines were abandoned in 1907, Fort Madalena, along with Fort Binġemma, remained in use for coastal defence. Its guns were removed during the interwar period, and it was later used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

first as a communications post, and then as a radar station during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The radar station remained in use by NATO until British forces left Malta in 1979 and the fort was handed over to the

Present day

Fort Madalena is still owned by the government and falls under the responsibility of the 4th Regiment of the

. A VTMIS radar was installed in 2006. The fort is leased to the St John Rescue Corps, a volunteer civil defence organization, and is used as their headquarters and training school. The fort is in good condition although some parts are in need of restoration. It is open to the public on Saturday afternoons, or by appointment throughout the week. A wall near the fort's entrance partially collapsed during heavy rains in April 2019, and it began to be restored in June 2019.

References

{{Forts in Malta Military installations established in 1880 Madalena Artillery battery fortifications in Malta Swieqi Madalena Radar stations World War II sites in Malta Military installations of NATO Limestone buildings in Malta 19th-century fortifications