Following the 1551 attack by the Ottoman Empire on the Maltese Islands, the Order of St John decided to build a fort on the peninsula which at the time was known as Isola di San Michele. The fortified city of Senglea was later built around the fort. During the Great Siege of 1565, the fort withstood 10 attacks from the Ottomans but even though it suffered extensive damages it never fell into the enemy’s hands. After the siege, the fort was rebuilt as Saint Michael Cavalier and was completed in 1581. Today only the outer bastions of Fort St Michael remain to remind us of the fort’s original site and purpose.
- Fortifications ·
