Turgot' s Master Plan for the re-fortification of Mdina

Abstract

In terms of Hospitaller fortifications, one of the most exciting archival discoveries to take place in Malta in the past few years has been, undeniably, the unearthing of a plan depicting a breath-taking scheme for the re-fortification of Mdina in the mideighteenth century. (Fig. 1) This important document came to light in the archives of the Augustinian Priory in Rabat, in course of an exercise undertaken by the National Archives which had set out to document the various archives in Malta. Eventually, its discovery was brought to the attention of the present author by The National Archives and this article is a preliminary evaluation of the significance of the plan's contents from a military architecture point of view.