4 comments so far.Qala’s St Anthony’s Battery restoration almost complete
 Email item
|  Print item
|
|
St. Anthony’s Battery, known locally as it-Trunciera is being restored by the Qala Local Council with the help of MEPA and Din l-Art Helwa. St Anthony’s Battery is an early 18th century military outpost designed to serve as a gun battery for the defence of the coast and the channel between Gozo and Comino. It was built during the reign of Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena and was probably designed by the French military engineer Charles Francois Mondion in 1731/2. The Battery retains its original relationship with the surrounding landscape and seascape as these have remained practically unchanged since 1731.
The restoration began about two and a half ago and is estimated so far to have cost around a hundred thousand euros. Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said and Qala Mayor, Paul Buttigieg, visited the site where the work now is almost complete.
St. Anthony’s Battery is regarded as a National Heritage in architecture which is somewhat unique to the islands. The work was originally designed with a semi-circular gun platform and two blockhouses at the rear, however, it was eventually built with a semi-hexagonal front. Consequently the landward defences incorporated a free-standing redan trace with thick walls and numerous musketry loopholes, which were shielded by two flanking traverses. The land front itself was protected by a shallow ditch.
A solid blockhouse with battered walls occupied the centre of the enclosure. In 1770, St. Anthony’s Battery had an armament of three 8-pdr guns with 427 rounds of roundshot and 75 rounds of grapeshot; and eight 6-pdr guns with 127 rounds of roundshot and 45 rounds of grapeshot.
My history of Qala”sSt.Anthony”s Battery,restoration,it remind me of the age when I
was at the age of 14/15 years old ,my father woke up early in the morning to go to
plough this parcil of farming land and by day brake we had our mule all harnessed in
the plough set up ,and my father took the first 15 munites,then the sun was getting
hotter &hoter ,when all of a suddin ,we were invaded by a cloud of tiny flies starving
for blood from human or animals ,and my father said that we have to find a cave and
take cover in the darkness ,the mule started kicking his hind legs ,and we had to
quit our ploughing for that day ,these flies were all comming from Libya,but it Trunciera
was our place of refuge against those Libyans starving flies.
Mr. Magro inti fejn kont tejx is-Sudan jew il-Qala ?
This is the answer to Peter, I been to a few countries in my life ,but not to Sudan as
you were thinking ! but to satisfy your curiosity,I was born in Qala ,at 17 years I went
to Australia ,and back to Gozo,and then came to Canada,where I have been the last
59 years,
Mr. Magro inti mort f’dawn il pajjizi u ghadek il- Canada, nahseb biex tahdem imma mux ghal xi holiday . Jien saqsejtek jekk kontx tejx is Sudan, ghaliex kif iddeskrivejt il-Qala fit tfulitek kont qieghed donnok tiddeskrivi is-Sudan mux il-Qala.