St. Helen's Gate ( mt, Il-Bieb ta' Santa Liena), also known as ''Porta dei Mortari'', is the main

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

of the

Santa Margherita Lines The Santa Margherita Lines ( mt, Is-Swar ta' Santa Margerita), also known as the Firenzuola Lines ( mt, Is-Swar ta' Firenzuola), are a line of fortifications in Cospicua, Malta. They were built in the 17th and 18th centuries to protect the land ...

, located in Cospicua,

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 ...

. It was built in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style in 1736 to designs of

Charles François de Mondion Charles François de Mondion (6 October 1681 – 25 December 1733) was a French architect and military engineer who was active in Hospitaller Malta in the early 18th century. He was also a member of the Order of Saint John. Career Mondion was bo ...

, during the magistracy of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena.

History

Construction of the

began in 1638, but works stopped in 1645 and were only resumed in 1715. St. Helen's Gate was built in 1736 to designs of the French architect

. The gate is located at the centre of St. Helen's Curtain, a stepped curtain wall between St. John Almoner and St. Helen's Bastions, and it served as the main entrance into the city of Cospicua. Back view of Saint Helen Gate

The gate originally had an ''à la Vauban'' drawbridge, but this was replaced by a chain-and-tackle mechanism in the early 19th century. The gate also had

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

s with two ''corpi di guardia'' which housed the sentries watching the gate. In 1947, under the direction of the Reconstruction Minister Dom Mintoff, the sentry rooms were demolished in order to make way for two modern openings to enable passage for vehicular traffic. The gate was originally protected by a triangular

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

and a

tenaille A tenaille (archaic tenalia) is an advanced defensive-work, in front of the main defences of a fortress, which takes its name from resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lip of a pair of pincers. It is "from French, literally: tongs, from Late ...

, but these were dismantled in the 19th century to make way for a new road. 30062 Saint Helen's Gate

The gate was restored in 1999 and 2004, and archaeological excavations were carried out, revealing the gate's original drawbridge pit. The area around the gate was subsequently paved and light fixtures were installed. The gate was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. It is now scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument, 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 ...

Architecture

St. Helen's Gate consists of a

portal, and it is regarded as one of the most beautiful 18th-century Hospitaller gateways. The portal's main façade is built out of alternating plain and rusticated hardstone masonry courses, and it also contains an ornate keystone and two half-columns which support a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. A carved marble mortar stands above each column, and these gave the gate the name ''Porta dei Mortari''. A central

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

is found between the mortars, and it contains two marble escutcheons separated by a carved sword. These originally depicted the coats of arms of the

Order of St. John 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 headqu ...

and of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, but were defaced during the

French occupation of Malta The French occupation of Malta lasted from 1798 to 1800. It was established when the Order of Saint John surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798. In Malta, the French established a constitutional tradition in M ...

in 1798. The arched entrance is surmounted by a marble plaque containing the following

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

inscription, which gives an account of the construction of the Santa Margherita Lines: Architecturally, the gate is similar to the Main Gate of

Fort Manoel Fort Manoel ( mt, Forti Manoel or ''Fortizza Manoel'') is a star fort on Manoel Island in Gżira, Malta. It was built in the 18th century by the Order of Saint John, during the reign of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, after whom it i ...

, which had been designed by Mondion in 1726. It is one of only two gates in Malta which bear representations of life-sized artillery pieces, the other one being Porte des Bombes which was built in 1721. On the interior of the Baroque gate is a copy of an original painting by

Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Cava ...

.Attard, M. (2015). Bormla bl-inħawi u t-toroq tagħha. Programm tal-festa Marija Immakulata, Belt Cospicua, 2015, 47, 49, 51-61, 63-70. On 4 December 2000, the painting was taken down by the Restoration Unit for restoration. Herman Bonnici was the architect responsible for the conservation project of the gate and the rehabilitation of the vicinity.

References

{{commons category inline, St. Helen's Gate Cospicua Gates in Malta City gates Buildings and structures completed in 1736 Baroque architecture in Malta Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands