Ximenes Redoubt: An Order of Saint John Coastal Defence Work in Malta
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Malta
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Knights Hospitaller
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page11 sections
History
Ximenes Redoubt is an early eighteenth-century coastal fortification in Naxxar, Malta, built by the Order of Saint John in 1715 and 1716 as part of the order’s first programme of coastal defences around the Maltese Islands. Originally known as Salina Right Redoubt, it helped defend Salina Bay together with Perellos Redoubt on the opposite side.
Construction and Coastal Defence
The redoubt was a small fortified work intended to provide an infantry position. Its limited scale made it unusually inexpensive: construction cost 316 scudi, 9 tari, 10 grani, and 2 piccoli, less than one-third of the average cost of a redoubt. After 1741, two fougasses, defensive pits containing explosive charges, were added to strengthen the position. One was placed inside the enclosure and the other immediately beyond its walls.
Perellos Redoubt was demolished after the Second World War, leaving Ximenes Redoubt as the surviving part of the pair that guarded the bay. In 1785, the redoubt had no armament, equipment, or ammunition.
Salt Storage and Later Name
About 1750, a large building was added to serve as a magazine and as a warehouse for salt produced in the nearby Salina salt pans. A second warehouse followed in the 1770s during the rule of Grand Master Francisco Ximénez de Tejada, the head of the Order of Saint John and its government in Malta. The addition of this building led to the redoubt’s later name, Ximenes Redoubt.
Restoration
The redoubt and the nearby salt pans, which form part of the protected Is-Salini area, were restored between 2011 and 2013. Graffiti sprayed on one of the walls in 2013 was later removed. The Government of Malta owns the site, which is controlled by the Maltese government authority MRRA.
Remains
Ximenes Redoubt stands at Salina Bay beside the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq–Salina coast road. Built of limestone, it is organized around a small polygonal enclosure with a high parapet wall designed for infantry defence. Unlike most other Maltese redoubts, it has no blockhouse. The restored structure is overshadowed by the Coastline Hotel.
Defensive Enclosure
Polygonal Enclosure
The surviving fortification consists solely of the polygonal enclosure and its high parapet wall. Its compact form reflects the limited scale of the work and its purpose as a defensible position for troops rather than as a large artillery fort.
Fougasse
One of the two fougasses associated with the redoubt survives. Its position within the small defensive work preserves an example of the explosive pits added after 1741, and it is among the best-preserved examples in Malta.
Salt Warehouses
First Warehouse
The large structure added around 1750 functioned both as a magazine and as a warehouse for salt from the neighbouring salt pans. It forms a substantial addition to the smaller limestone defensive enclosure.
Ximénez Warehouse
The second warehouse, built in the 1770s, has a large escutcheon, a shield-shaped heraldic panel displaying a coat of arms, above its doorway. The panel bears Francisco Ximénez de Tejada’s coat of arms and provides the visible association that gave the redoubt its later name.
Nearby sites
