The Armoury ( mt, L-Armerija), also known as the Old Fortified House ( mt, Id-Dar il-Fortifikata l-Antika), is a historic building in

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( mt, Is-Siġġiewi, ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Southern Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa respectively. It i ...

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 ...

, which was originally used as the residence of captain of the village, and it also served as an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

where the weapons of the local

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

were stored. The last Grand Master of Malta was hosted in the building by the captain during the feast of the village. After the departure of the Order the building was adaptively reused according to the exigencies of the village or governor but lost its original purpose. It was used as a temporal school in the village, being among the first public education buildings, before being vacated. Located at 127 Triq il-Kbira (formerly Royal Street), it is a historic

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

, a Grade II scheduled building and a listed monument.

History

The Armoury was purposely built as a defence post for the inhabitants of the village of Siggiewi. The building was used as a

guardhouse A guardhouse (also known as a watch house, guard building, guard booth, guard shack, security booth, security building, or sentry building) is a building used to house personnel and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormi ...

and a residence for the captain or

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

of the district. He was responsible for the people and was aided by the trained villagers. Their names were listed by the captain. The armoury was equipped with arms and other object for defence; these would be distributed by the captain and used by him and the chosen villagers when need comes. In general the use of arms took place when there were attacks on the village from the nearby Qormi and Zurrieq which are close to the sea. Grand Master

Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim, O.S.I. (9 November 1744 – 12 May 1805) was the 71st Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, formally the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, by then better known as the Knights of Malta. He was the first Ge ...

was welcomed at the Armoury when he visited the village feast of Siġġiewi in 1797. At one point, the building also served as a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Architecture

The Armoury is

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

ed at ground floor and has another floor above. It has an arched entrance in the centre. An imposing open balcony is located above the doorway, and it is flanked by

arrowslit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interio ...

s on either side. The fortified building is complemented with three

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

s of which only the

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

and minor parts remain. The building is symmetric in design and feature traditional windows melitan moldings. It is scheduled as a Grade II Scheduled property, and it is also listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mon ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armoury (Siggiewi) Siġġiewi Armories (military) Fortified houses in Malta Limestone buildings in Malta Defunct schools in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands