Type Artillery battery Built by Order of Saint John Fate Demolished Material Limestone | Built 18th century Materials Limestone Owner Government of Malta | |
Condition Only rock-hewn ditch and foundations remain | ||
Buġibba Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' Buġibba), also known as Elbene Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' Bileben), was an artillery battery in Buġibba, limits of St. Paul's Bay, Malta. It was built in the 18th century by the Order of Saint John as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the Maltese Islands. The battery no longer exists, but its rock-hewn ditch and some foundations can still be seen.
Contents
History
Buġibba Battery was built in the 18th century during one of the building programmes of coastal batteries in Malta. Sources conflict as to whether it was built in 1715–16, or sometime between 1747 and 1784. It was one of a series of fortifications defending St. Paul's Bay, with the nearest ones to it being Wignacourt Tower and Battery to the southwest and Qawra Tower and Battery to the northeast.
The battery's exact layout is not known, but it had a semi-circular gun platform with a parapet, and a blockhouse at the rear. It was surrounded by a ditch which was filled with seawater.
Present day
Today, the battery no longer exists, but some of its rock-hewn foundations and ditch can still be seen.