Historic Qbajjar battery being handed to Din l-Art Ħelwa
The knights-era building was used as a nightclub for many years, then fell into disrepair
Updated 3.55pm
The dilapidated knights-era battery at Qbajjar near Qolla l-Bajda in Gozo is to be handed to heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa, which will be entrusted with its restoration and guardianship.
The announcement was made by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri after a Cabinet meeting.
The property was used as a nightclub for many years before falling into disrepair.
In April 2023, Din l-Art Ħelwa complained that although the government had promised to hand the property over to it, the process was taking so long that the much-needed intervention may come too late in the day and the building would have been destroyed by then.
The Lands Authority and Heritage Malta in January last year said they would carry out works to "eliminate danger" in the structure.
The Qbajjar Battery is an artillery battery built by the Order of Saint John in 1715 as part of a series of coastal fortifications around the coast of the Maltese Islands and is one of only two left in Gozo and one in Comino. Both of these the St Anthony Battery in Qala and that of St Mary Battery in Comino have been in the past already restored by Din l-Art Ħelwa.
In the 1970s, the battery was handed over for private use as a nightclub and disco. Significant damage was inflicted through excavations and later accretions, which severely compromised the fabric of the building.
In October 2005, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage suggested to the Lands Department that the battery should be passed over to Din l-Art Helwa, for the building to be maintained properly, to have all the illegal additional constructions removed, and to open the battery to the public.
Din L-Art Ħelwa Ghawdex thanked the Prime Minister, the Culture and Gozo ministries for finally making good on the many promises made to sign the guardianship deed.
The seaward side of the Qbajjar Battery.