Fort Rinella

​Fort Rinella is a Victorian Battery which was built by the British between 1878 and 1886 and it is one of four coasted batteries that housed an Armstrong 100-ton gun. In fact, it contains one of two surviving Armstrong 100-ton guns. The Rinella Battery is paired with the Cambridge Battery in Sliema which used to contain another 100-ton Armstrong gun. However, this does no longer exist. The British felt the need to have these guns as a reaction to the Italians having in 1873 built the battleships Duilio and Dandalo with 22 inches of steel armour and four 100-ton Armstrong guns per vessel. The British armoured both Malta and Gibraltar to ensure the vital route to India through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. The fort was built in the shape of an irregular pentagon confined by a deep ditch. It has two levels, an underground structure where one can find the loading-chambers and a ground level with accommodation for the soldiers and machinery chambers. Both the gun and the Rinella Battery were restored. In 1996, Fort Rinella was opened to the public as an open-air museum. The gun was fired for the first time in 100 years on 21st November 2005 by the Chief Minister of Gibraltar. The gun is now fired once a year. In collaboration with Kottonera Foundation.​