Xwejni Battery
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Qolla l-Bajda Battery ( or ) is 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 ...
in
Żebbuġ Żebbuġ ( ), also known by its title Città Rohan, is a city in the Western Region of Malta. It is one of the oldest towns in the country, and its population is 11,074 as of June 2021. History and origins The parish church is dedicated to P ...
,
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 and 1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese Islands. It retained its original layout until the late 1970s, when it was converted into a discothèque and snack bar known as Rook (after the
chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either White and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (ches ...
) and major alterations were made to the battery. The building, in the midst of a legal battle between the government and a private company, is now abandoned and in a dilapidated state. Qolla l-Bajda Battery is one of only two surviving batteries on Gozo, the other one being Saint Anthony's Battery in Qala. It is not far from the northernmost point of the island, Reqqa Point, and as such it is the northernmost fortification in Malta. The battery is also known by a number of other names, including Xwejni Battery (), Qbajjar Battery () or the ''Castello''.


History

Qolla l-Bajda Battery was built by the Order of Saint John in 1716 on the spur of land between the bays of Xwejni and Qbajjar. It was named after a nearby
hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007
...
known as ''Qolla l-Bajda'' (the White Hillock). It was designed by the military engineers Jacques de Camus d'Arginy and Bernard de Fontet. The battery is the only surviving part of a chain of fortifications that defended
Marsalforn Marsalforn (Pronounced: ''Mars al-Forn, , '' Maltese language, Maltese: ''Marsalforn''), also written as M'Forn for shortcut purposes, is a town on the north coast of Gozo, the second largest island of the Malta, Maltese archipelago. The t ...
and nearby bays from Ottoman or Barbary attacks. The other
towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
, batteries, redoubts and entrenchments were all demolished or destroyed. The battery consists of a semi-circular gun platform ringed by a parapet with six embrasures, and two blockhouses joined by a wall. The blockhouses had musketry loopholes intended to protect the battery from a land attack. A ramp originally led to the entrance, which is located between the blockhouses. The battery's seaward side is protected by a small ditch, and salt pans are located close by. It was initially armed with six guns, but in 1770, its armament consisted of four 6-pounder guns with 276 rounds of roundshot and 60 rounds of grapeshot. The battery was abandoned in the 19th century, but was again used as Observation Post No. 5 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 ...
.


Recent history

In 1978, the government leased the battery to Francis Vella, and it was converted into a
discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...
and snack bar. At this point, some structures were built on the gun platform, the entrance was enlarged, and the ramp leading to it was replaced by a flight of steps. The
emphyteusis (Greek, 'implanting') or emphyteutic lease is a contract for land that allows the holder the right to the enjoyment of a property, often in perpetuity, on condition of proper care, payment of tax and rent. This type of real estate contract speci ...
was transferred to Rook Limited in 1981, and the lease expired in February 2003, but the company continued to occupy the battery. It was subsequently abandoned and it fell into a state of disrepair. The area around it, including the salt pans, is also in a dilapidated state. The NGO
Din l-Art Ħelwa () is a non-governmental and non-profit, voluntary organisation founded in 1965 by Maltese Judge Maurice Caruana Curran to safeguard Malta's cultural heritage and natural environment. Since its foundation, Din l-Art Ħelwa has restored numerous ...
has asked for permission to take over the battery and restore it. In response, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage made a request to the Land Department, which issued an eviction order against Rook Limited in 2007. Since then, the battery has been in the midst of a legal battle between the government and the company. The battery was vandalized several times, including in 2013 when graffiti were sprayed over the facade. This has since been removed.


References


External links


National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese IslandsPhotos of Il-Qolla l-Bajda Battery May 2016
{{Batteries in Malta Artillery battery fortifications in Malta Hospitaller fortifications in Malta Military installations established in 1716 Żebbuġ, Gozo Defunct nightclubs Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands 18th-century fortifications 18th Century military history of Malta