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Maħsel Battery
The Maħsel Battery ( mt, Batterija tal-Maħsel) was an artillery battery in Marsaskala, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John in 1714–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese Islands. The battery no longer exists. History Maħsel Battery was built in 1714–1716 as part of the first building programme of coastal batteries in Malta. It defended St. Thomas' Bay along with Riħama Battery Riħama Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Riħama) is an artillery battery in Marsaskala, Malta. It was built by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John in 1714–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese Is ... on the opposite side of the bay, and Saint Thomas Tower and Battery commanding the headland to the north of the bay. Maħsel Battery's design was similar to that of Riħama Battery, having a pentagonal gun platform and a blockhouse. It was sometimes erroneously considered a redoubt, but it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsaskala
Marsaskala ( mt, Wied il-Għajn), also written as Marsascala and abbreviated as M'Skala, is a seaside town in the South Eastern Region of Malta which has grown around the small harbour at the head of Marsaskala Bay, a long, narrow inlet also known as ''Marsaskala Creek''. The bay is sheltered to the north by ''Ras iż-Żonqor'', the southeast corner of Malta, and to the south by the headland of ''Ras il-Gżira''. The parish church, built in 1953, is dedicated to Saint Anne and the feast is celebrated at the end of July in Marsaskala. It was originally a fishing village only but has gradually evolved into a tourist destination and a permanent hometown for an ever-growing population. The town has a winter population of 12,134 people as of March 2014, but swells to around 20,000 in summer. Etymology Different opinions exist regarding the origin of the name Marsaskala. While it is commonly agreed that ''Marsa'' is an Arabic word meaning bay, Skala has given rise to different interp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entrenchment (fortification)
In fortification, the term entrenchment ( it, trincieramento, mt, trunċiera) can refer to either a secondary line of defence within a larger fortification (better known as a ''retrenchment''), or an enceinte designed to provide cover for infantry, having a layout similar to a city wall but on a smaller scale. The latter usually consisted of curtain walls and bastions or redans, and was sometimes also protected by a ditch. In the 18th century, the Knights Hospitaller built a number of coastal and inland entrenchments as part of the fortifications of Malta. Further entrenchments were built in Malta by insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ... during the blockade of 1798–1800, in order to prevent the French from launching a counterattack. List References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
18th-century Fortifications
The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trading and human trafficking expanded across the shores of the Atlantic, while declining in Russia, China, and Korea. Revolutions began to challenge the legitimacy of monarchical and aristocratic power structures, including the structures and beliefs that supported slavery. The Industrial Revolution began during mid-century, leading to radical changes in human society and the environment. Western historians have occasionally defined the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work. For example, the "short" 18th century may be defined as 1715–1789, denoting the period of time between the death of Louis XIV of France and the start of the French Revolution, with an emphasis on directly interconnected events. To historians who expand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone Buildings In Malta
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, . ''Magnesian limestone'' is an obsolete and poorly-defined term used variously for dolomite, for limestone co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demolished Buildings And Structures In Malta
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for reuse purposes. For small buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three stories high, demolition is a rather simple process. The building is pulled down either manually or mechanically using large hydraulic equipment: elevated work platforms, cranes, excavators or bulldozers. Larger buildings may require the use of a wrecking ball, a heavy weight on a cable that is swung by a crane into the side of the buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry, but are less easily controlled and often less efficient than other methods. Newer methods may use rotational hydraulic shears and silenced rock-breakers attached to excavators to cut or break through wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Installations Established In 1715
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hospitaller Fortifications In Malta
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem until 1291, on the island of Rhodes from 1310 until 1522, in Malta from 1530 until 1798 and at Saint Petersburg from 1799 until 1801. Today several organizations continue the Hospitaller tradition, specifically the mutually recognized orders of St. John, which are the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Order of Saint John (chartered 1888), Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John, the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John, the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands, and the Order of Saint John in Sweden. The Hospitallers arose in the early 12th century, during the time of the Cluniac Reform, Cluniac movement (a Bened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artillery Battery Fortifications In Malta
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and led to heavy, fairly immobile siege engines. As technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery cannons developed for battlefield use. This development continues today; modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility generally providing the largest share of an army's total firepower. Originally, the word "artillery" referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armor. Since the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, "artillery" has largely meant cannons, and in contemporary usage, usually refers to shell-firing guns, howitzers, and mortars (collectively called ''barrel artillery'', ''cannon artillery'', ''gun artillery'', or - a lay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a hastily constructed temporary fortification. The word means "a place of retreat". Redoubts were a component of the military strategies of most European empires during the colonial era, especially in the outer works of Vauban-style fortresses made popular during the 17th century, although the concept of redoubts has existed since medieval times. A redoubt differs from a redan in that the redan is open in the rear, whereas the redoubt was considered an enclosed work. The advent of mobile warfare in the 20th century diminished the importance of stationary defence positions and siege warfare. Historically important redoubts English Civil War During the English Civ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 south of Sicily (Italy), east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language. Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. With a population of about 516,000 over an area of , Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated sovereign cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Thomas Tower
Saint Thomas Tower ( mt, Torri ta' San Tumas), also known as Fort Saint Thomas ( mt, Forti San Tumas), is a large bastioned watchtower in Marsaskala, Malta. It was built in 1614, the third of six Wignacourt towers. An artillery battery was added to the tower in the early 18th century. Saint Thomas Tower is the largest watchtower in Malta. History Saint Thomas Tower was built above the shore on the seaward face of the headland of ''il-Ħamrija'' in Marsaskala. It is a substantial fortification intended to prevent the landing of troops in the sheltered anchorages of Marsaskala Creek and St Thomas' Bay. Construction of the tower was approved in July 1614, at the time of the Raid on Żejtun, in which an Ottoman fleet managed to land at St Thomas' Bay. The tower was named after a chapel dedicated to St Thomas, which stood close to where the tower now lies. It cost 13,450 scudi, 6 tarì and 4 grani to build, making it the second most expensive Wignacourt tower, after Saint Mary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riħama Battery
Riħama Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Riħama) is an artillery battery in Marsaskala, Malta. It was built by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John in 1714–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese Islands. The battery still exists, although it is in a dilapidated state with part of it having collapsed. Riħama Battery is also known as Ducluseaux Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Ducluseaux), Tal-Franċiż Battery ( mt, Batterija tal-Franċiż, literally "Frenchman's Battery") or Tan-Naz Battery ( mt, Batterija tan-Naz). History Riħama Battery was built in 1714–1716 as part of the first building programme of coastal batteries in Malta. It defended St. Thomas Bay along with the now-demolished Maħsel Battery on the opposite side of the bay, and Saint Thomas Tower, St. Thomas Tower and Battery commanding the headland to the north of the bay. The battery was also known as Ducluseaux Battery, possibly after the French knight Ducluseaux de Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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