Like many others, I was overjoyed at the news that plans are now in hand for the restoration of Fort Ricasoli. It is a shame that for many years this site had been used and abused for film-making without the revenue generated being channelled towards its restoration.
The site will rise again, not as the Alexandrian agora or the Roman colosseum, but as Fort Ricasoli.
In an excellent short feature, Stephanie Fsadni has touched upon a number of issues which need to be addressed.
Among them the need to ensure that in the restoration of the site ‘all layers of history need to be preserved’. The fort was built by the Knights, but it was also extensively modified during the British period, up to and including the Second World War.
However, there is one additional important question to address. What should the restoration cover and how extensive should it be? Certainly, the restoration undertaken must ensure the preservation of what is still there.
It must also render safe those parts of the fort that will be made accessible to the public. It needs also to take up as one of its goals, the visual integrity of Fort Ricasoli as seen from the Grand Harbour, as well as from inside the fort itself, once it is open to visitors. However, since the objective is not to rehabilitate the site for use again as a defensive fortification. one must not a priori set off with the notion that all of the original fort must necessarily be rebuilt. Quite realistically, it has already been remarked that rebuilding the ramparts facing the open sea might require the construction of wave breakers to save them from the notorious grigal storms.
If money had not been a problem, such considerations would not have mattered. But funds will always be limited, since many other heritage sites in need of restoration, such as the Cottonera Lines, Fort Delimara, and the Victoria Lines. Given the size of Fort Ricasoli, the first challenge for the intended restoration will be determining where to start. Even at this early stage it is important to have a good idea of where to finish.
