In 1635 the Order of St John were fearing an attack by the Ottomans. Thus, they asked for the assistance of a military engineer, to advise them on how best to upgrade the fortifications of Valletta. Pietro Paolo Floriana arrived in Malta and immediately started working on his plans. He suggested the addition of landward fortifications in front of Valletta, in order to keep the enemy as far away as possible. Unfortunately, Floriani did not get on well with other Knights who were of the opinion that there were other more dangerous areas that needed defending. The building of the fortifications started according to the plans as prepared by Floriani. Eventually in 1670 more defensive lines to the Floriana Lines were added, in order to render these walls stronger.
Lion’s Fountain
In the centre of St Anne’s Square there is a fountain surmounted by a lion. The lion is holding the coat-of-arms of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. Although the fortification lines as planned by Pietro Paolo Floriani had been built in 1635, the Order initially did not give any permission for people to live within these fortification walls. In 1728 a fountain was erected, catering to the increased population of the area. A regulation was also issued stating that no one could stay idle near the fountain, except for those that were drawing water. By this time the suburb was given the name of Borgo Vilhena.
Portes des Bombes
The main gate to Floriana was through Porte des Bombes. This was erected during the time of Grand Master Perellos. Originally it had one archway. In front of the entrance, there was the usual ditch, which would be crossed over by a bridge. At the entrance to the bridge there were two large pillars, on which there were two large cannon balls. This first entry was called Portes des Bombes. The second decorated archway was also known as Porta dei Canoni. In 1868 a second archway was added to facilitate the passage of the increased traffic into the capital city of Valletta. Eventually there were further modifications to the archways in order to have the tramways to pass through. The last changes to the archway, now with two arches, was the demolishing of the adjacent fortifications, bringing the archway as a stand-alone entrance to the suburb of Floriana. The arches are decorated with the coat-of-arms of Grand Master Perellos, and of the British administration. The columns are in the shape of canons.
St Anne’s Gate
Part of the defence system that was erected along the Floriana Lines were a number of fortified gates. After entering through Porte des Bombes, there was another gate. This was known as St Anne’s Gate. In front of the same gate there was a rock-hewn tenaille, providing better defence in case of a direct attack. Eventually, with the introduction of the tram, the tenaille and the gate were demolished in 1897 to widen up the road leading into Floriana and subsequently Valletta. The niche dedicated to St Anne was saved and placed on one of the sides, where it still is.
The Aqueduct Tower
After the building of Valletta, the Knights realised the need to have enough water supplied to the fortified city. It was only towards the end of the 16th century that Grand Master Martino Garzes tried to have this dream materialise. Although the project was initiated, due to financial and technical problems the project was never completed. It was then during the magistracy of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt that these plans were continued, as Wignacourt invited the engineer, Bontadino dei Botnadini, to Malta. This engineer continued the previous work already done, and finally brought the project to completion by April 1615. The whole system had a number of inspection towers along the way, and this one in Floriana was the last one before Valletta. On the doorway there is the name of the engineer who completed the project.
