Ramla Right Battery (), also known as Gironda Battery () or Nadur Battery (), was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

Ramla Bay Ramla Bay (, "red sands") is a bay with a beach of reddish-coloured sand in Gozo, in the Maltese Islands. It lies on the north-east coast of the island, between the bays of Marsalforn and San Blas. The closest village is Xagħra. Planning per ...

, in the limits of

Nadur Nadur () is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit of Malta, located in the eastern part of the island of Gozo. Nadur is built on a plateau and is one of the largest localities in Gozo. Known as the 'second city', it spreads along a h ...

on the island of

Gozo Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...

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 by the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Military order (religious society), military order. It was founded in the Crusader states, crusader K ...

in 1715–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the Maltese Islands. The battery now lies in ruins.

History

Ramla Right Battery was built in 1715–1716 as part of the first building programme of coastal batteries in Malta. It was one of several fortifications in Ramla Bay, which also included Ramla Left Battery on the opposite side of the bay and

Ramla Redoubt Ramla Redoubt (), also known as Vendôme Redoubt (), was a redoubt in Ramla Bay, within the limits of Xagħra on the island of Gozo, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John in 1715–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around ...

in the centre. These were all linked together by an entrenchment wall. Ramla Bay was further defended by

Marsalforn Tower Marsalforn Tower () refers to two towers that stood near Marsalforn, in the limits of Xagħra, Gozo, Malta. The first one was built in 1616, as the fourth of six Wignacourt towers, and collapsed around 1715. The second was a '' Tour-reduit'', wh ...

on the plateau above the bay, and an underwater barrier to prevent enemy ships from landing within the bay. The battery had a semi-circular parapet with six embrasures, with a blockhouse at the rear. A fougasse, dug on the shore close to the battery, still exists. The battery saw use during the

French invasion of Malta The French First Republic led by Napoleon Bonaparte successfully invaded the islands of Malta (island), Malta and Gozo, then Hospitaller Malta, ruled by the Knights Hospitaller, in June 1798 as part of the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, Mediter ...

in 1798, when it fired on the approaching French fleet.

Present day

Only some remains of the battery's blockhouse survive and, along with the rest of Ramla Bay, are managed by the Gaia Foundation.

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
Artillery battery fortifications in Malta Hospitaller fortifications in Malta Military installations established in 1715 Ruins in Malta Nadur Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands 18th-century fortifications 1715 establishments in Malta 18th Century military history of Malta {{Malta-struct-stub