The Citadella, Gozo
As Cittadella is called the citadel of Gozo Maltese town situated on Victoria. The north of the city center on a rock facility houses the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Bishop of the Diocese of Gozo place. At the time of the Roman Empire was at this place an acropolis. Where a castle was built in the Middle Ages. After taking possession of the archipelago by the Knights Hospitaller in 1530, the plant was rebuilt and enlarged. Since 2007, the Citadel is completely restored after extensive investigations.
Prehistory
A first-time attachment of the square is assumed for the Bronze Age around 1500 BC. During the reign of the Phoenicians, the fortified town was used to go through. In Roman times was at this point the Acropolis of the Roman settlement Glauconis Civitas. Buildings from these periods have not been preserved.
Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, a castle was built on the rock, which was first mentioned in 1241. The nearly circular ground plan of the walls follows the contours of the terrain. The plant was called Gran Castello. According to their time of origin, it consisted of high vertical wall. Bastions were not available. As the historian of the Order of St. John, Giacomo Bosio, reports, numerous houses were in the inner castle. This residential building had been beaten windows in the outer walls of the castle.
Time of the Hospitaller Order
In 1524, some Knights of St John inspected the archipelago, to test its suitability for a settlement of the Order. It was also visited the Gran Castello in Gozo. In contemporary reports, the castle was so called molto picciola very small. The fortifications were considered inadequate and was in poor condition. After taking possession of the archipelago by the Order, the castle was repaired. Due to the obvious deficiencies was considered to have grind the castle and abandon the place. To this end, it did not come. During the invasion of Gozo by Ottoman troops under Turgutreis in July 1551, the castle fell into the hands of the invaders. Many of the inhabitants were able to flee to the castle through the window carved into the walls after the storm. A total of approximately 6000 inhabitants of the island were abducted into slavery, which amounted to a depopulation of the island. The castle was badly damaged during the siege and the storm. Reports that speak of a complete destruction, however, are scarcely credible, otherwise the system would have to have been rebuilt in its original medieval form. During the siege of Malta Gozo in 1565 was spared the fighting, as the island was not attacked by the Ottomans.
After successful defense of the invasion visited Francesco Laparelli, who also planned the construction of Valletta, Cittadella and submitted proposals for the expansion of the castle using a bastionären fastening system. A corresponding drawing by Perez d' Aleccio was published in 1582 in Rome. It shows a short curtain that was focused on the city and was flanked by two half bastions. The ramparts of the fort were under the Proposal, as with the castle on the edge of the rock. Has doubts about the direct assignment of drawing Laparelli. Thus, the drawing shows rounded Orillons that are atypical for Laparellis designs.
In 1599, Giovanni Rinaldi inspected the plant. He noted that the rock on which the castle was built, very soft and numerous crevices and caves was passed through and so facilitated the creation of stoles. The castle was also within range of surrounding heights. Rinaldi has therefore proposed the demolition of the castle and the construction of a new fortress near Marsalforn. Alternatively, however, he also made proposals for the reconstruction of the castle. The proposal for demolition was discarded and started from 1601 the reconstruction of the plant. With the construction Vittorio Cassar was commissioned.
Core of the system is the south-facing central bastion, named after the Archangel Michael St Michael 's bastion. To the west is St Martin 's bastion in eastwards St John's demi - bastion. The bastions have rounded Orillons, as shown already d' Allecios drawing. This detail reflects past the point of construction, obsolete old - Italian style, while the size of the central bastion already pointing to the new Italian style. Before the southwestern, southern and ostwärtigen side of the fortress runs a dry ditch. St Martin and St Michael are connected to a curtain wall, in which the main entrance to the fort, shaded by the Western Orillon of St Michael's is located. This curtain is preceded by a Ravelin in the ditch. It was reached by a small bridge to Ravelin and from there over a long bridge to the main gate. On the far edge of a grave covered path was built. Between the Central Bastion and St. John's was located before digging a place of arms. The construction of the bastions was completed in 1610. The system was supplemented by two Cavaliers. The St John's cavalier behind the St John's demi - bastion was completed in 1614, the St Martin's cavalier behind the eponymous Bastion in 1622. The enclosing walls of the medieval castle remained otherwise unchanged. In this form, the Cittadella is still preserved.
Despite the improvements, the fortress remained a compromise. The fundamental problems, such as the porous rocks and the commanding heights around the fortress, could not solve the reconstruction. The fortifications on the west and north sides did not meet the requirements of the 17th century. In addition, the fortress could not absorb more than a quarter of the inhabitants of Gozo. From different sides has been proposed repeatedly to grind the fortress and to build a new fort near Marsalforn. In 1643, then the demolition of the fortress was actually decided. Construction of the new fort was to be financed with a tax on wheat. The residents of Gozo protested because they could not afford the additional tax burden. Given the choice to deny the construction of its own funds, shifted the Order demolition and new construction. The great alarm of 1645 has raised fears about the steadfastness of the fortress again. Giovanni Bendinelli Pallavicino and Louis Viscount d' Arpajon proposed the evacuation of the citadel. The walls of the castle were actually undermines been a blast, but the feared Turkish fleet came.
Antonio Maurizio Valperga who had the Cotonera Lines designed, submitted in 1670 an ambitious and very detailed elaborated proposal for the reconstruction of Cittadella and the attachment of Victoria. His proposal included the construction of bastions on the west, north and east before the rock, and the remodeling of St Martin's, St John's, as well as the battery to three mighty bastions. The whole area should be surrounded by a dry moat. Victoria should be surrounded by a powerful analog fortification. The core consisted of three bastions on the southern edge of the city. The curtain between the central and ostwärtigen Bastion should be preceded by a Ravelin over which the access was given to the city. Also in the curtain wall between the central and western bastion, access to the city was provided. Curtains closed on the bastions to the north with other city gates, which were completed by long -drawn half bastions. These bastions should at Ravelin or at the place of arms flow into the ditch that surrounded the citadel. Even Victoria should be surrounded by a dry moat with covered ways and weapons sites. Within the city the original, grown plant of the streets and squares should be retained, only a strip between Cittadella and the city should remain free of buildings. The plans Valpergas were accepted. A reaction was omitted, however, since other fortifications were urgent and the resources of the Order to achieve not sufficient.
In the following years, the improvements were limited to details. Mederico Blondel made in 1690 to create on the east side of the citadel a battery. This battery covered the eastward Face of St John's and made it possible to coat the base of the east wall with flanking fire. Claude de Colongues took off in 1703 to a double moat of the citadel to the lower town. This was entirely unpaved. Only 1714 struck René Jacob de Tigné before the construction of a fortification around the city. The Santa Maria Cathedral was built in 1697-1711 to designs by the architect Lorenzo Gafa Maltese Baroque inside the citadel. Next to the Cathedral, the Episcopal Palace took its place.
In 1722, the Order decided finally to abandon the fortress and the construction of Fort Chambray near Mgarr. The plant had received no military significance more, but remained largely in the former state. In 1886, the cathedral opposite, and related to the fortress walls homes were demolished. The Cathedral Square called square in front of the Cathedral in 1956 has been lowered by several meters. In the northern part of the fortress, the former barracks were converted into a prison in the 19th century. A part of the Bieb l - Imdina road disappeared. The steps of St Michael's to sally have also been partly built over.
Restoration
In 1998, the consumption of the system in the World Heritage of UNESCO was requested by the Maltese government. Under reference number 3, the Cittadella is since 1995 also part of the list of cultural heritage of Malta. Since 2007, the Cittadella is carefully restored. This measure is part of a project that includes historic preservation work in Valletta, Mdina, Vittoriosa and Cittadella. The project has a volume of 36 million euros is co-financed 85% by the European Union and should be completed in 2013. The restoration was also necessary because of the soft rock on which the plant was built, has partly given way, which has led to the collapse of part of the medieval wall on the north side.