![Malta - Sliema - Tigné Point 01 ies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Malta_-_Sliema_-_Tign%C3%A9_Point_01_ies.jpg)
Tigné Point is a peninsula in
Sliema
Sliema ( mt, Tas-Sliema ) is a town located on the northeast coast of Malta in the Districts of Malta#Northern Harbour District, Northern Harbour District. It is a major residential and commercial area and a centre for shopping, bars, dining, a ...
,
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 ...
. The area was originally occupied by several fortifications and a British barracks complex, which were left derelict for many years, until the area was redeveloped in the early 21st century. The area now contains many modern buildings and is popular among both locals and tourists.
The peninsula was originally known as ''Punta di Santa Maria'', and its extremity is also known as Dragut Point.
History
![Tigne Barracks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Tigne_Barracks.jpg)
The local militia had a small watch post on what is now Tigné Point in 1417. During the
Great Siege of Malta
The Great Siege of Malta ( Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 13 September ...
of 1565, the Ottoman admiral
Dragut
Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Turkish or Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended ...
stationed a number of cannons at Tigné Point in a siege to capture
Fort Saint Elmo
Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...
from the
Order of Saint 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 headq ...
. He was killed by stray gunfire from the fort during the siege, and the extremity of the peninsula still bears his name, Dragut Point.
After the Great Siege, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady under various titles was built instead of a niche that was already in the area. In 1757,
Lembi Battery was built in the area, and it became obsolete in 1792, when the Order built its last major fortification,
Fort Tigné
Fort Tigné ( mt, Il-Forti Tigné - Il-Fortizza ta' Tigné) is a polygonal fort in Tigné Point, Sliema, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John between 1793 and 1795 to protect the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour, and it is one of the o ...
. The new fort, which later gave the area its name, played a significant role in the
French invasion of 1798 and the
subsequent Maltese uprising.
[
Between 1878 and 1886, when Malta was under British rule, ]Cambridge Battery
Cambridge Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Cambridge) is a Victorian-era battery in Sliema, Malta. It is commonly referred to as Fort Cambridge ( mt, Forti Cambridge), although it was never classified as a fort while in use. It originally contained a ...
was built on Tigné Point to house a single 100-ton gun
The 100-ton gun (also known as the Armstrong 100-ton gun) was a rifled muzzle-loading (RML) gun made by Elswick Ordnance Company, the armaments division of the British manufacturing company Armstrong Whitworth, owned by William Armstrong. T ...
. In the 1890s, Garden Battery
Garden Battery is an artillery battery in Sliema, Malta. It was built by the British between 1889 and 1894. The battery is located at Tigné Point, between Cambridge Battery and Fort Tigné.
History
The battery was first proposed in 1885, and was ...
was built to cover the area between Cambridge Battery and Fort Tigné. The British also built military barracks and a chapel dedicated to St. Luke on the peninsula.
When the British forces left in 1979, the barracks and the whole area fell into decay and neglect. Parts of both Fort Tigné and the British barracks were plundered or vandalized. Garden Battery was buried and buildings were constructed over it, while Cambridge Battery was used as a restaurant, hotel and swimming pool.
Present day
Since the redevelopment project, Tigné Point has changed considerably. The modern buildings, easy accessibility and other factors helped transform the area from neglected abandoned barracks to a popular area which is frequented by both locals and tourists as it has a number of attractions. The Fort Cambridge apartments, which were completed in 2012, are among the tallest buildings in Malta.
The Point Shopping Mall opened in early 2010, built on the site of the former Tigné Barracks. Parts of the mall in Pjazza Tigné still contain some architectural elements of the barracks, including a series of arches that run along the square. The Point is Malta's largest shopping mall and it contains about 17,000m2 of retail floor space spread over three levels. It includes a supermarket and over 50 other shops.
References
External links
Official website
Official developer website
Official The Point Mall website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tigne Point
Peninsulas of Malta
Shopping centres in Malta
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Malta
Sliema