Santa Margherita Lines

The Santa Margherita Lines are a bastioned defensive wall that encloses the landward side of Cospicua (Bormla) in southeastern Malta, forming part of the fortifications of the Three Cities. Construction began in 1638 under the Knights of St John, to a design associated with the military engineer Vincenzo Maculano da Firenzuola, who also planned the Cottonera Lines. After the Great Siege of 1565, the Order recognised that the high ground behind Senglea, Birgu and Bormla left them exposed to attack from inland, and the Santa Margherita Lines were an early response. The lines consist of a long curtain wall with projecting bastions, ditches and a main gate, laid out in the geometric pattern of seventeenth-century bastion fortification. They were later reinforced by the larger outer Cottonera Lines, begun in 1670, which enclosed a bigger area. Under British rule the walls kept a military role, and parts were later adapted for other uses, including housing and storage. Sections have been affected by weathering and by urban development, and restoration projects have repaired stretches of wall and gateways in recent years. The Margherita Lines can be viewed from outside along the edge of Cospicua, and some bastions and gates can be reached on foot. There are no formal museum displays here, but the walls give a clear sense of how Malta's defences were planned in layers. Visitors can combine the lines with the Cottonera Lines, the Dockyard Creek waterfront and the old streets of Cospicua. The site is free to view and is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right. It rewards those with an interest in military architecture.