Victora Lines walk

The Victoria Lines Walk

The Victoria Lines are a line of fortifications that span across Malta. The intent of the North West Front as the original name of the lines was planned to be was to focus the defence on the south east part of Malta which was more heavily populated and had less beaches, and thus was more defensible. The lines run along a natural barrier known as the Great Fault and further defends this natural step in the landscape. This significant military endeavour spans across 12 kilometres and is for the most part easy to walk along taking in the vistas of the more rural part of Malta.

The construction of the Lines commenced in the late 19th Century and they were inaugurated in 1897, the same year Queen Victoria had her Jubilee, hence their being named the Victoria Lines. The lines were deemed obsolete by 1907, a short time after completion and thus they remained untested and unused. Today they provide a monument to military engineering and a nice walk from one side of Malta to the other for those who wish to follow them.

The walk will be split into sections, with the more significant aspects of the defensive system pointed out. Some stretches of the lines are no longer accessible, either because of missing parts or because certain areas, such as Fort Mosta and Fort Madliena are inaccessible owing to their use by the Maltese army and a local telecom company respectively.

The Walk

The walk is being split into three sections. The first section is a rather steep climb from sea level to Gharghur and Naxxar area ending at Naxxar Gap or slightly beyond where a quarry has crossed the lines and made the once complete path impassable. The next section is from this area to through Tarġa Gap and on to Falka Gap. The last stretch rom Falka Gap to Fomm ir-Riħ is probably the most scenic of the three and definitely the part which is still largely rural.

Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq to Naxxar Gap

We start off the walk practically at sea level where the Madliena entrenchment remains can partly be seen between the road and the sea. Behind us, one can see the Madliena tower on the top of the hill with a fougasse canon next to it, and remains of a gun position and shooting ranges. But more on that another time. The entrenchment has been incorporated into the wall bounding the road and is only distinguishable in view of the large stones forming the entrenchment. The Victoria Lines proper start at the hill leading to Madliena where it is incorporated ingloriously into the wall next to the road. The villa which have spring up in this area have made use of the fortification as part of their own boundary and a number of breaches for access to drives and grounds have been formed in the wall. Walking up It-Telgħa tal-Madliena, the wall is on the right. Similar walls can be seen on the left hand side running down from Fort Madliena towards the lines, particularly in the stretch between Triq E. Pirotta and Triq is-Sies. The wall continues along Triq is-Sies, however a the end of the road is impassable owing to passing through private property. Going all the way to the top of the hill, you are now faced with an option, either to detour to have a look at Fort Madliena on the left or back down Triq l-Inġiniera to San Giovanni Battery from we resume our walk along the lines.

San Giovanni Battery is one of the 20th century additions to the lines in order to prepare for the inevitable war. The concrete gun emplacements and magazine chambers are incongruous with the rest of the lines and are immediately identifiable as later additions. The view of Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Bay from this stops immediately shows why this spot was chosen to fortify the bay as any enemy craft could be discerned from a distance, allowing the defenders ample time to prepare for any troop landing invasions.

Resuming the walk towards Wied id-Dis, the walk now becomes somewhat steep, with stretches being formed of steps. The stop wall across the valley is one of a number of similar stretches aimed at stopping the invasion of the enemy across the more accessible paths along valleys. This stretch of wall allows for a nice view down the valley and up towards Madliena, one of the few natural refuges still surviving in this part of the Island.

A steep walk up towards Top of the World leads one to walk next to another of the 20th cenutry defences; the Għargħur High Angle Battery with the spoil heaps of the excavations and the British period rusticated stone of the buildings pointing to the military use of this area. The sloped roofs of the bombproof magazines are easily visible. Part the high angle battery, one arrives at Top of the World, a very scenic spot and a hot spot for joggers, riders and other people out for some fresh air and some exercise. A walk down and back up follows leading one to the public garden and parking area signifying the end of the stretch known as Top of the World.

Resuming our walk after crossing the road leads to a stepped stretch of lines leading to another stop wall along Wied Anġlu, before the stepped path resumes climbing towards Birguma, where the walk flattens out for a walk along the road leading from T'Alla w Ommu to Għargħur. Looking across the quarry, one can see the remains of Birguma anti-aircraft battery perched at the very edge of the quarry. This is another of the later additions to the lines, although a bit off the main patrol path we are following. Beneath the great fault we can now really appreciate the Magħtab plain, in ancient times a flood plan serving as the draining ground for the two rather large valley systems we have crossed.

Just before Naxxar Gap where the lines are traversed by It-Telgħa t'Alla w Ommu, we can see the first of the Knight's Period redans, one of four such structures which shows that the area was identified as a place of defence well before the British built the Victoria Lines. This area contains a number of significant features which one may wish to explore in more detail, such as cart ruts, a shrine, rock-cut steps and the R15 pillbox, one of the few fortified posts known to have come under fire and is in fact pockmarked. On the other side of the road, there were the remains of an old parish cross.

Along this stretch, the wall is fortified by means of a ditch in front of it, in order to improve the defensibility. Behind the wall are the three other Knight period redans, with the last one being significantly larger and with a more obtuse angle than the other three. This stretch of the walk end where the hard stone quarry has eaten away a significant part of the landscape as well as part of the lines themselves.

If you wish to continue the walk, it makes sense at this point to walk down the hill and resume the walk through Wied il-Għasel from where the next section starts.

Naxxar Gap to Falka Gap

The walk resumes at this point by following Triq Wied Filep to the start of Wied il-Għasel. The first stretch through Wied il-Għasel is a bit rough owing to recent infrastructural works carried out in the winter of 2020-2021 to deepen the valleybed. Wied Filep itself is no more as it has been eaten away by the quarry, thus the walk needs to proceed along the valleybed until one encounters the Wied il-Għasel viaduct, a three arched masonry bridge which was largely swept away by the floods of 1979.

The remains of the steps leading down to the viaduct are just visible on the left in the image above taken in February 2021 and the stones originally forming the viaduct are strewn about the valleybed. In this case, the stop wall had the three large arches incorporated owing to the large volumes of water passing through the valley. Similar to Binġemma stop wall, this stop wall had musketry loopholes along the parapet wall to aid in its defence. The image below is a photo taken in 1901. It would be a good idea if the quarry owners in the vicinity were to recreate this stopwall as a means of making amends for the huge damage to the landscape in this area. It would probably be easiest to transport materials through the quarries themselves as any other way would create a natural disaster to the valley system, whereas through the quarries themselves, the area is already damaged and the infrastructure necessary would be limited to the transport of materials from the quarry proper to the site of the works.

The walk resumes with a very steep sets of steps, with the first part being quite difficult. In addition, the patrol path leads to Fort Mosta and the surrounding army complex, which is inaccessible to the public, thus at this point, the walk should resume along the valley side to the side of the lines facing the potential enemy. There is no patrol path along this area and indeed the lines themselves were not built owing to the steepness of the valley side, although rock-cut steps are present a short distance away. A machine gun post is also perched on the valley side, ensuring that any troops coming up the valley would be in for a nasty surprise.

The rough path continues to the north of the lines, under the Fort Mosta ditch and beneath the large gun emplacements which were also added in the 20th century. The original metal bridge across Wied il-Għasel was built to allow for the construction of Fort Mosta. The only surviving part of the original bridge is the lower arch on the fort side of the valley which was incorporated into the current bridge was was constructed in the 1980s.

The walk resumes after circumventing the fort, with another concrete pillbox showing that one is practically past the fort at this point. If you are feeling adventurous, you may wish to enter the pill box, where you will be able to see the original layout of these machine gun posts. The entrance is from a low doorway constructed of thick metal aimed at protecting the staff inside. This particular example has the spotter turret in the exact centre of the pillbox. Be very careful when accessing the pillbox as it has been subjected to some vandalism and stones have been thrown into it, resulting in potential hazards.

Walking along the lines, one can see the Burmarrad plain, another flood plain which is now a very fertile area. The path is partly shaded by conifers and leads to Ġnien l-Għarusa tal-Mosta and the Civil Defence Headquarters and School. From here one keeps walking on the outskirts of the recently refurbished public garden to Tarġa Gap. Beneath the garden, there is nuclear shelter which is accessible through a stairway at the western end of the garden. Although the shelter is accessible, exercise extreme care if it is accessed in view that asbestos was used when it was built, which was never cleared. Owing to vandalism, the space is not in a very good state.

At the eastern end of the garden one comes to Tarġa Gap, a gap in the lines required owing to the road leading to the north of the island. A searchlight emplacement in this area is currently in use as a bus stop, next to which a series of steps lead down to the Burmarrad plain.

The lines continue on the other side of this busy road, at the start of which there is a plaque commemorating the construction of the lines during the administration of Sir Arthur Freemantle and stating that they were so named to commemorate the diamond Jubilee of her majesty [queen Victoria] in 1891. The path continues towards Tarġa Battery, part of the original defensive system which was however never armed. As in other areas where the lines were easy to traverse, they are more strongly fortified, with the additional fortifications in this area consisting of musketry loopholes. There are also historic images showing that field trials in the area were undertaken by means of carriage mounted Howitzers and musketry amongst others. The Tarġa Battery ditch includes a number of buildings which were constructed as part of the Civil Defence training and consisted of the Rescue Training Wing. In addition to these buildings, there is a Nissen hut and other structures which are currently being used as a farm across the road from the battery, which originally formed part of the same complex. The Tarġa Battery is currently being used by the Mosta Scouts Association.

Resuming the walk towards Falka Gap, one can look across the Wied tal-Ħżejjen to Bidnija. The quarry in this area is another scar in the landscape, however in the early 2000s when a permit was granted for it's extension, a planning gain was imposed, part of which was in material for the restoration of the Victoria Lines. The sum although considerable went only a little way in view that the walls have not been maintained in any way for the past 4 or 5 decades.

The lines at this point become barely discernible, with the main evidence of the fortification being the rather steep ditch along the side of the road until one arrives to Triq l-Imġarr and Falka Gap, another gap in the lines which was originally marked with a pair of pilaster with escutcheons on them.

This is another area which was originally fortified by the Knights, although there is evidence that it had been fortified even before that by the Falka family in Medieval times. Torre Falka which gives the area its name is no more and indeed the exact location of this tower is still a mystery although it is said and depicted on the Perez d'Aleccio frescoes in the Grandmaster's Palace that the last battle of the Great Siege of 1565 was fought in this area.

The Falka Lines built by the Knights are nowadays barely discernible and indeed parts of them have been covered by soil for the enlargement of fields. Traces however remain and are discernible particularly from aerial views of the original lines, while some stretches are still visible as parts of field boundaries, mainly discernible from the large and regular size of the ashlar masonry used.

This brings us to the end of the middle stretch of the walk. We will resume walking along the part of the Falka Lines leading towards the Dwejra Lines section.

Falka Gap to Fomm ir-Riħ

The last stretch of the walk resumes from Falka Gap going up the hill towards the part known as Dwejra Lines. Leaving the road and starting the climb, we are passing along the last stretch of the Falka Lines. It should be pointed out that the British Services deemed these fortifications which were constructed in the 18th century too dilapidated to include them in the planned fortification. The climb up to Dwejra Lines is rather steep, however the view from the top is worth the climb. 

This is probably the strongest fortified section of the entire stretch. Apart from the 20th century additions to the lines, consisting of large gun emplacements, the Dwejra Lines section includes searchlight emplacements and the generators to run them, caponiers, a deep ditch and bomb and gunpowder magazines. To the rear of the geographical centre of the lines, there is the No. 4 Howitzer Battery, although it is nowadays largely hidden from view owing to the wall constructed around it and trees planted next to this wall. 

The caponiers are a series of underground spaces located at kinks in the Lines which are accessed by means of a ramp. The purpose of the caponiers is to ensure that any infantry who managed to get down into the ditch would be shot before climbing to the other side. This is the same system used in a number of other fortifications around the Islands. Until a few decades ago, these spaces were still almost completely intact but in the past couple of decades, the original doors leading to the caponiers were pulled down and the caponiers themselves heavily vandalised. A number of structures were built in the surroundings, a number of which are British period buildings as evidenced by the stone rusticated finish. 

The Dwejra Lines attracts numerous visitors in the winter months and it is a wonderful place for a walk, jog or for spending some time in the countryside with one's family. The view from the top of the lines across the country side, with the patchwork fields and Mġarr in the distance, Mellieħa and the sea further away is one of the best views of the Maltese countryside. Unfortunately however, a lot of damage is done by the visitors, from pulling down stones from the wall to set up campfires or shelter for tents to mindless vandalism. Some of the growing vegetation is also causing damage to the historic structures unfortunately and adding of accretions to the original structures gives a shanty and shabby appearance to the area. This area should be the first to be taken in hand and properly managed if we want to ensure that the ravages of humans and time are stopped and ideally reversed. 

The Dwejra Lines end at the Binġemma stopwall, with the last part consisting of a dog leg wall having chamfered musketry loopholes protecting the approach to the wall from the valley. This stretch of wall was restored by anastylosis in the past decades as it had been almost completely in ruins. The stopwall proper also includes musketry loopholes on the top part of the parapet making this area one of the more prepared against an infantry advance. Historic photos also exist of troop manoeuvres in this area showing that the threat of an enemy approach from this area was taken very seriously.

The valley in this area contains a wealth of features of note, from the palaeochristian hypogea (early Christian tombs) constructed in natural caves which were extended, Roman columbarium (spaces for storage of funerary urns), Puico-Roma,n masonry remains, human-made caves and the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Hodegetria, as well as cart ruts a few metres away. 

The walk continues with a gentle climb upwards with the wall gradually becoming lower until the scarp becomes steep enough that the wall disappears completely in certain stretches. On turning towards Fort Binġemma, and at the point where the fort becomes visible, the rock-cut patrol path becomes rather evident. In this stretch, the scarp is fractured and there are large gaps where the clip is getting ready to fall off owing to the undercutting of the soft blue clay underneath the topmost rock layer. At the top of the plateau in this area there are the remains of an anti-aircraft battery with the Nadur tower at the highest point serving as the lookout post for the battery. This was one of the places from where the hit on Mosta church was visible from. 

A small detour around a farmstead leads one to the climb up to Fort Binġemma, a structure which is rapidly falling into disrepair in view that the person to whom it is leased is not maintaining it properly. This is an unfortunate misuse of a historic property which has been ongoing for decades and unless action is taken in the near future, there will be little left to save from this historic structure. Leaving the fort behind us, it is advised that the walk towards Tas-Santi stopwall follows the existing roads rather than the wall, owing to the sharp drop near the No. 6 Howitzer battery. There are some stretches of fields in this area which are part of the original stretch of lines which are leased to third parties, and since there are no formally designated paths other than the roads, it is best to avoid passing through these areas. 

The walk along the wall resumes near the Tas-Santi stopwall where the land again climbs towards Il-Kunċizzjoni. Once again, the wall is not completely clear in this area, however there are enough paths to get one to our final destination. A short detour to the No. 7 Howitzer battery is recommended at this point since this is the one closest to the lines and although not easily discernible owing to the trees, the masonry remains of the battery are easily visible. Imagine the space behind the masonry trapezoidal wall being constructed in earth as shown in the image below.

Source: Stephen C. Spiteri drawing

The last part of the lines leads from the Kunċizzjoni area down to the Kunċizzjoni Defence Electric Light (DEL). This plateau which is surrounded by the wall appears as to be a strong fortification when looked at from lower ground, however the main purpose of the space was to light up the approach from Fomm ir-Riħ bay. The structures which are mostly underground consisted of the generator room for the large searchlight placed at the very edge of the drop. A shallow ditch leads from the generator room to the searchlight emplacement, to allow for personnel to traverse the open area without being visible ort at least without providing an easy target. 

The steep walk down leads to the end of the wall and an infantry redoubt, party of which has been deepened an widened to form a reservoir. Some traces of metal poles for the placing of barbed wire entanglement are discernible, however these have been mostly removed or rusted.

This brings us to the end of the ;last part of the walk. Have a look at the map below to identify any points of interest which you may wish to detour to to have a look, some of which form an intrinsic part of the original design of the fortification while others are simply a coincidence or a result of the topography, previous human use of the area or a combination of both.