The opening of the harbour, the closing of the walls : urban history of two Mediterranean port cities

Abstract

The convenience of a natural harbour, the needs of the maritime trade, the proximity of the sea and its resources had led the people of Malta and Messina – at different times – to construct two coastal cities, two port cities. But, as like all the Mediterranean port cities, the urban solutions are always ambiguous, always strained in the contradiction between opening and closing. One of the problems characterizing the fortification of a coastal city originates from the port infrastructure that claims conflicting demands on the seclusion imposed from the Old Regime urban defence. Starting from the Medieval Age and, a fortiori, after the military revolution in the sixteenth century, the cities shut themselves to preserve their wealth and their social construction. The security of their freedom, their collective organization and the domain of the surrounding area pass through fortifications and walls. These are the defence against treacherous and dangerous strangers. But in the port cities urban life is animated by the harbour and this must necessarily be open to foreigners, thus making the city somewhat vulnerable. The dual dynamics, the dual intent, are recognized in maximum closing as opposed to the maximum opening. Valletta and Messina live this contradiction: it is interesting to analyse the assumptions and design solutions in these two Mediterranean port cities in order to respond to their ambiguous identity. [excerpt from the article]