Bengħisa Battery
Balbani Battery (), also known as Bengħisa Battery () or Saint Catherine's Battery (), was an artillery battery in Birżebbuġa, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John on commands by Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca and was completed in 1721. The battery was named for Cristoforo Balbani, who partially financed its construction. It was one of a series of coastal fortifications around the Maltese Islands. Balbani Battery was part of a chain of fortifications that defended Marsaxlokk Bay, which also included six other batteries, the large Saint Lucian Tower, two smaller De Redin towers, four redoubts and three entrenchments. The nearest fortifications to Balbani Battery were Bengħisa Tower to the south and Fresnoy Redoubt to the west. Construction of the battery cost 1,855 scudi. The mastermind of the battery was architect Burlemarch and at its completion it was armed with eight cannons. It had a pentagonal platform with a blockhouse at the rear, which was also defended ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birżebbuġa
Birżebbuġa (; sometimes shortened to B'Buġa) is a seaside town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, close to Marsaxlokk. It is approximately from the capital Valletta, and has a population of 9,736 as of March 2014. The town is popular among Maltese holidaymakers, and is known for its sandy beach, Pretty Bay. The town is also notable for its important archaeological sites, especially Għar Dalam, Ta' Kaċċatura Roman villa, Ta' Kaċċatura and Borġ in-Nadur. Etymology "Birżebbuġa" means "well of olives" in the Maltese language. History Prehistory Għar Dalam is a natural cave and important archaeological site in Birżebbuġa. Għar Dalam was where the earliest evidence for human presence on Malta was discovered until excavations in Latnija Cave in 2025. Artefacts from Għar Dalam date back to the Neolithic Period some 7,400 years ago. The display area consists of two parts: the cave and the museum, which exhibit finds from animal bones to human arte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fresnoy Redoubt
Fresnoy Redoubt (), also known as Kalafrana Redoubt (), was a '' tour-reduit'' in Birżebbuġa, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John in 1715–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the Maltese Islands. It was demolished in 1897. History Fresnoy Redoubt was built in 1715–1716 as part of a chain of fortifications that defended Marsaxlokk Bay, which also included three other redoubts, the large Saint Lucian Tower, two smaller De Redin towers, seven batteries and three entrenchments. The nearest fortifications to Fresnoy Redoubt were Elminiech Battery to the west and Balbani Battery to the east. Fresnoy Redoubt was one of four ''tour-reduits'' built in Malta, the other three being Spinola Redoubt, Vendôme Tower and Marsalforn Tower. It had a semi-circular front, and a redan on the landward side, all of which were pierced by musket loopholes. The limestone-redoubt was demolished by an order given by the Public Works Department on 22 February 1897. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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18th-century Fortifications
The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to challenge the legitimacy of monarchical and aristocratic power structures. The Industrial Revolution began mid-century, leading to radical changes in human society and the environment. The European colonization of the Americas and other parts of the world intensified and associated mass migrations of people grew in size as part of the Age of Sail. During the century, slave trading expanded across the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, while declining in Russia and China. 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 Revolut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Limestone Buildings In Malta
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science), crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these minerals Precipitation (chemistry), 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 (rock), dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Demolished Buildings And Structures In Malta
Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down 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 rockbreakers attached to excavators to cut or break through wood, steel, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buildings And Structures Completed In 1721
A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much artistic expression. In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hospitaller Fortifications In Malta
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there until 1291, thereafter being based in Kolossi Castle in Cyprus (1302–1310), the island of Rhodes (1310–1522), Malta (1530–1798), and Saint Petersburg (1799–1801). The Hospitallers arose in the early 12th century at the height of the Cluniac movement, a reformist movement within the Benedictine monastic order that sought to strengthen religious devotion and charity for the poor. Earlier in the 11th century, merchants from Amalfi founded a hospital in Jerusalem dedicated to John the Baptist where Benedictine monks cared for sick, poor, or injured Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Blessed Gerard, a lay brother of the Benedictine order, became its head when it was established. After the Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 dur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Artillery Battery Fortifications In Malta
Artillery consists of 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 were 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 armour. Since the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, "artillery" has largely meant cannon, and in contemporary usage, usually refers to shell-firing guns, howitzers, and mortars (collectively called ''barrel artillery'', ''cannon artillery'' or ''gun artillery'') and rocket artillery. In common ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Malta Freeport
Malta Freeport ( Maltese: ''Il-Port Ħieles'') is an international port on the island of Malta with a trade volume of 3.06 million TEUs in 2015.Container Terminals, Traffic - Malta Freeport site Malta Freeport is one of busiest ports in Europe. The port is situated in in the southeastern part of Malta, on the site of the former seaplane base . Established in 1988, Malta Freeport was the first [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Redan
Redan (a French language, French word for "projection", "salient") is a feature of fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped Salients, re-entrants and pockets, salient angle towards an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other material. The redan developed from the lunette (fortification), lunette, originally a half-moon-shaped outwork; with shorter flanks it became a redan. History Redans were a common feature in the coastal artillery, coastal batteries built in Malta between 1715 and the end of the 18th century. Surviving batteries with redans include Mistra Battery and Saint Anthony's Battery. The Russians used redans on their left at the Battle of Borodino against Napoleon. A small redan whose faces make an obtuse angle with a vertex toward the enemy is called a ''flèche (fortification), flèche'' (arrow in French language, French). The ''Bagration flèches'' were three redans backwards in Echelon formation, echelon. The Shevardino Redoubt (another re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery, air force or cruise missiles. A fortification intended to resist these weapons is more likely to qualify as a fortress or a redoubt, or in modern times, be an underground bunker. However, a blockhouse may also refer to a room within a larger fortification, usually a battery or redoubt. Etymology The term '' blockhouse'' is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Middle Dutch '' blokhus'' and 18th-century French '' blocus'' (blockade). In ancient Greece Blockhouses existed in ancient Greece, for example the one near Mycenae. Early blockhouses in England Early blockhouses were designed solely to protect a particular area by the use of a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bengħisa Tower
Bengħisa Tower (), originally known as ''Torre di Benissa'' and also referred to as the Red Tower (), was a small watchtower in Bengħisa, within the limits of Birżebbuġa, Malta. It was built in 1659 as the seventh of the De Redin towers The De Redin Towers () are a series of small coastal watchtowers built in Malta by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John between 1658 and 1659. Thirteen towers were built around the coast of Malta (island), mainland Malta to act as watchto ..., on or near the site of a medieval watch post. An entrenchment was built around the tower in 1761, and it was armed with 10 guns. The tower was demolished by the British to clear the line of fire of the nearby Fort Benghisa in 1915. The site of the tower and the entrenchment is now occupied by oil tanks forming part of the Malta Freeport. References De Redin towers Towers completed in 1659 Demolished buildings and structures in Malta Buildings and structures demolished in 1915 Bir� ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |