page_title: Fortifications of Mdina
section_title: Medieval walls
hierarchical_section_title: Fortifications of Mdina / Medieval walls
caption_attribution_description: English: Greeks' Gate, medieval Mdina
context_page_description: The fortifications of Mdina are a series of defensive walls which surround the former capital city of Mdina, Malta. The city was founded as Maleth by the Phoenicians in around the 8th century BC, and it later became part of the Roman Empire under the name Melite. The ancient city was surrounded by walls, but very few remains of these have survived.
  The city walls were rebuilt a number of times, including by the Byzantine Empire in around the 8th century AD, the Arabs in around the 11th century, and the Kingdom of Sicily in the medieval period until the 15th century. Most of the extant fortifications were built by the Order of Saint John between the 16th and 18th centuries.
  The city has withstood a number of sieges, and it was defeated twice – first by the Aghlabids in 870 and then by Maltese rebels in 1798. Today, the city walls are still intact except for some outworks, and they are among the best preserved fortifications in Malta. Mdina has been on Malta's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998.
context_section_description: At some point following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a retrenchment was built within the city, reducing it to its present size. This was done to make the city's perimeter more easily defensible, and similar reductions in city sizes were common around the Mediterranean region in the early Middle Ages. Although it was traditionally assumed that the retrenchment was built by the Arabs, it has been suggested that it was actually built by the Byzantine Empire in around the 8th century, when the threat from the Arabs increased.
  In 870, Melite was captured by the Aghlabids, who massacred its inhabitants and "demolished its fortress" according to the chronicler Al-Himyarī. This account further mentions that Malta remained almost uninhabited until it was resettled in around 1048 or 1049 by a Muslim community and their slaves, who built a settlement called Medina on the site of Melite. Archaeological evidence suggests that the city was already a thriving Muslim settlement by the beginning of the 11th century, so 1048–49 might be the date when the city was officially founded and its walls were constructed. The Byzantines besieged Medina in 1053–54, but were repelled by its defenders.
  Medina surrendered peacefully to Roger I of Sicily after a short siege in 1091, and Malta was subsequently incorporated into the County and later the Kingdom of Sicily, being dominated by a succession of feudal lords. The fortifications of Mdina were rebuilt and modified a number of times over the following centuries. A castle known as the Castellu di la Chitati or the castrum civitas was built on the southeast corner of the city near the main entrance, probably on the site of an earlier Byzantine fort. The city withstood a siege by Hafsid invaders in 1429.
  By the 15th century, most of Mdina's enciente had a system of double walls. The land front was flanked by four towers, one near Greeks Gate, another at the centre of the land front, the Turri Mastra (also known as Turri di la bandiera) near the main entrance and the Turri di la Camera at the southeast corner of the city. A barbican was built near Mdina's main entrance sometime after 1448. In the 1450s there were fears of a Barbary or Ottoman attack, so efforts were made to improve Mdina's walls. The main ditch was completed, and the Castellu di la Chitati was partially demolished by royal licence in 1453, due to its ruinous state and the excessive cost for its upkeep.
  By 1474, cannons had been introduced in Mdina. Other extensive preparations for an attack were made in the 1480s, when the fortifications were once again improved under the direction of Sicilian military engineers. At this point, some buildings in Rabat were demolished to clear the fortifications' line of fire. By 1522, the fortifications were being modernized with the construction of embrasures. However, the walls were still regarded as obsolete, since they lacked bastions and could not resist bombardment from modern artillery.
  Most of the medieval walls of Mdina were gradually dismantled between the 1530s and 1720s, when the city's fortifications were being upgraded by the Hospitallers. One of the most significant visible remnants of the medieval fortifications is the Greeks Gate and the surrounding curtain walls, which still retains its medieval form apart from the outer portal which was built in the 18th century. Parts of the double walls, including the remains of two gun loops, still stand between the gate and the Torre dello Standardo. Most of the northern and eastern walls date back to the medieval period, although some sections were rebuilt by the Hospitallers. The northern ramparts contain a medieval wall tower, while the remains of Byzantine antemurals and the foundations of a late 15th-century artillery platform have been found in the eastern walls.
caption: The inner portal of Greeks Gate, one of the few visible remains of the medieval walls
exif: {}