Fort Chambray

Fort Chambray or Fort Chambrai (Maltese: Forti Chambray or Forti Cambray), is a bastioned fort situated in the precincts of Għajnsielem, on the island of Gozo, Malta. This fortress was built in the area of Ras it-Tafal which is situated between the port of Mġarr and Xatt l-Aħmar. Some buildings within the fort were demolished but the outer bastions and some barracks still survive.

History

Order of Saint John

The possibility of building a fort west of Mġarr had been investigated back in 1599 by Giovanni Rinaldi, however he rejected the proposal since the site was dominated by higher terrain in the north and the limestone in the area was too soft to build a good fortress. The construction of a fort there was reconsidered again in 1714 and the French engineer Jacob de Tigné made a design, however construction was postponed indefinitely due to a lack of funding.

Eventually, Jacques François de Chambray was appointed Governor of Gozo in 1749, a post which he retained to his death in 1756. He agreed to finance the building of the fort, and it was named after him. Construction commenced that same year in 1749, and by 1757 the land front of the fort was largely complete.

The fort was originally intended to be a new fortified city like Valletta, and eventually the new capital of Gozo instead of the Cittadella. The project was unsuccessful because by the time construction started, Berber and Turkish marauders were no longer a major threat and people began feeling safer living in the rural areas. While the fort was built, it never developed into a city as planned.^[1]

During the last few years of the Order's rule in Malta, the fortress never experienced any attack mainly due to the decline of the Order's enemy the Ottoman Empire. In 1798, it was Gozo's defence against the revolutionary forces of Napoleon, and this was the fort's only brief military adventure.

British rule

During the first four decades of British rule, the fort's importance diminished. By 1830 a small military hospital was located in the fort. It was then abandoned for several years but found a new lease of life when several British regiments were stationed there during the Crimean War and the hospital was expanded. When the war ended, the fort resumed normal duties once again. The fort and its hospital again saw a lot of activity during the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 and World War I from 1914 to 1916. Over the years, three cemeteries were built, one within the fort and two in the ditches.

After World War I, the fort closed down and was used as a civilian mental hospital from 1934 to 1983. In the early 1990s plans were made to convert the fort into a tourist destination. By 1991 the human remains in the cemeteries were removed and were reburied in Xewkija, and the tombstones were set aside in a secluded part of the fort.^[2]

Present day

In the 1990s, the fort began to be redeveloped, and new buildings were constructed inside. The outer bastions and some barrack blocks were retained. The project was later abandoned and restarted under Dr. Michael Caruana who has created a unique development of which phase one and two is completed. Phase three has recently received outline planning permission.

Layout

Fort Chambray consists of four main parts: a bastioned land front and its outworks, two flanks overlooking Mġarr Harbour and Xatt l-Aħmar, and a cliff face facing the sea.

The land front consists of three bastions:

• St. Anthony Bastion – the pentagonal bastion at the right of the land front. It has a total of nine embrasures on its flanks and faces. A church was originally built on the bastion, and it now contains a number of modern buildings.^[3]
• St. Paul Bastion – the pentagonal bastion at the centre of the land front. It has a total of eighteen embrasures on its flanks and faces.^[4]
• Notre Dame Bastion – the demi-bastion at the left of the land front. It has six embrasures. Its right face has collapsed and slid down by about 20 feet.^[5]

The bastions are linked together by curtain walls, one of which contains the fort's main gate.^[6][7] They are protected by a ditch^[8] and the following outworks:

• a large counterguard protecting St. Paul Bastion.^[9]
• two ravelins protecting the curtain walls between the bastions. The Right Ravelin contains the fort's Advanced Gate.^[10][11]
• a covertway along the entire land front.^[12]

The fort's western flank, overlooking Xatt l-Aħmar, mainly consists of a curtain wall which was originally protected by a ditch.^[13] It also contains the following bastion:

• Guardian Angel Bastion – a pentagonal bastion at the southernmost part of the fort. It has five embrasures and a barbette parapet, a flat-roofed echaugette,^[14] and a polverista with a conical roof.^[15]

The fort's eastern flank, overlooking Mġarr Harbour, consists of an irregular trace linking Notre Dame Bastion to the cliff face,^[16] which makes up the entire southern perimeter of the fort, overlooking the Gozo Channel. Two traverses are located at the centre of the cliff face.^[17]

Gallery

• 

  View from the seaward side

• 

  View from Mġarr Harbour

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  View from the landward side

• 

  Fort's bastions with main gate to the left

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  Barrack block at Fort Chambray

• 

  Modern developments inside the fort

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Chambray.

• National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands

Forts in Malta 16th century Fort St. Angelo Fort St. Elmo Fort St. Michael 17th century Fort Ricasoli 18th century Fort Chambray Fort Manoel Fort Rohan Fort San Salvatore Fort Tigné 19th century Fort Binġemma Fort Delimara Fort Leonardo Fort Madalena Fort Mosta Fort Pembroke Fort San Lucian Fort St. Rocco Fort Tas-Silġ Fort Verdala 20th century Fort Benghisa Fort Campbell Fort Mellieħa Erected by: Order of Saint John  British Empire