Floriana, Malta - Portes des Bombes from air - postcard c.2000s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Aerial view of Portes des Bombes, Malta [Floriana]
• Publisher: Perfecta Adveriting Ltd, Malta
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Portes des Bombes (Maltese: Bieb il-Bombi, Italian: Porta delle Bombe, meaning "Bombs' Gate"), originally called Porta dei Cannoni (meaning "Cannons Gate"), is an ornamental arched gate in Floriana, Malta. It was originally built in 1721 as an advanced gate within the faussebraye of the Floriana Lines, and it was enlarged with the construction of a second archway in 1868. The ramparts on either side of the gate have since been demolished, leaving the gate looking like a triumphal arch.[1]

Construction of the Floriana Lines began in 1636, but works proceeded slowly and the lines were only completed in the early 18th century. The lines had a large bastioned land front with outworks and a faussebraye. Porte des Bombes was built in 1720–21 within the faussebraye, being constructed to designs of the French architect Charles François de Mondion[3] at a cost of 6000 scudi.[4] The gate originally had a single arch, and it served as Floriana's outer entrance, leading to the town's main gate Porta Sant'Anna.[5] It was originally protected by a lunette.[6]

Porte des Bombes was captured by French soldiers during the French invasion of Malta in June 1798.[7] At this point the Maltese insurgents opened fire in its direction, to challenge the occupants, which had left significant bullet marks on the front.[8]

In the mid-19th century the British government enlarged the gate by adding a second archway to accommodate the increasingly heavy traffic in the Grand Harbour area.[9] This enlargement was designed by the architect Col. E. W. Dunford of the Royal Engineers,[4] and it cost a total of £900. The second gate was inaugurated on 17 August 1868, during the governorship of Sir Patrick Grant.[7]

In the early 20th century, some of the ornamentation in the archways was removed so as to enable trams to pass through the gate. The lunette outside the gate was subsequently demolished to make way for a new road,[6] while the ramparts on either side of the gate were demolished in the 1930s to cope with the increasing volume of traffic.[4] These alterations resulted in the gate losing its legibility as part of the Floriana Lines, making it look like a triumphal arch.[10]

The gate was restored between September 2002 and March 2003, at a cost of Lm55,000. The restoration works also included the installation of a lighting system. The gate was vandalized in May 2005 when burnt oil was daubed on it, but the damage was cleaned within a couple of days.[9] The gate is considered, by the police force, as a high street hazard for passing vehicles.[11] On 24 October 2012, there was some damage when an Arriva bus skidded into it and two other buses later crashed into the first bus and 22 passengers were injured. However the damaged part of the gate was repaired a few days later.[12]

The gate and the rest of the Floriana Lines were included on the Antiquities List of 1925.[13] It is now scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument, and it is also listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.[10]

The gate is occasionally open to the public, such as in October as part of the festivities of Notte Bianca.[14]