Fort Rinella

Fort Rinella was built by the British between 1878 and 1886 for one weapon: an Armstrong hundred-ton gun, a muzzle-loading rifle firing a shell of about a tonne, of which four were made for Malta and Gibraltar and two survive. The whole fort is essentially a machine for working it, with steam-powered hydraulics for loading and traversing. It is run by a heritage organisation with costumed demonstrations of drill, musketry and cannon firing.

History

Britain built four batteries in the Mediterranean, each with a 100-ton gun, after Italy began its Duilio-class ironclads in 1873. Rinella's gun arrived from Woolwich on 10 September 1882, a hundred men of the Royal Artillery hauled it to the battery over three months, and it entered service in January 1884 and fired for the last time on 5 May 1905. The Malta Heritage Trust took over the site in 1991 and opened it as a museum in 1996 (Wikipedia, Fort Rinella).

What you'll find

• The hundred-ton gun - an 1880s Armstrong weapon, one of only two surviving.
• The hydraulic machinery - the steam-powered system for loading and traversing.
• The drill demonstrations - costumed displays of Victorian garrison routine.
• The magazine - the shell and charge stores serving the gun.

When to go

Year round; demonstrations run at set times on show days and not every day. Mornings are quieter. Winter hours are shorter.

What to expect

The main demonstration runs once a day and missing it leaves much less to see. It is run by volunteers and opening can vary. The site is small.

Nearby

Birgu is west, and the Three Cities are beyond it.