Three Cities
The Three Cities is the generic name given to the Maltese cities of Il-Birgu or Città Vittoriosa, Bormla or Città Cospicua, and L-Isla-Senglea or Città Invicta, located on the island of Malta south of Grand Harbour. This name only appeared with the French occupation.
In the 17th century, the towns of Birgu and Senglea were the only fortified towns in this part of the island. In 1638, a new fortification, the Margherita Lines, encompassing Bormla, was built by the engineer Firenzuola. After the fall of Candia and the conquest of Crete in 1670, the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Nicolas Cottoner y de Oleza, commissioned Antonio Maurizio Valperga, military engineer to the Duke of Savoy, to construct new fortifications encompassing all the hills above the Margherita Lines.
Cottoner, heavily criticized by the Catholic princes, secured the financing for the works and laid the first stone on August 28, 1670. Behind its 4.5 kilometers of rampart encompassing towns and fields, Cottoner could thus shelter, if needed, facing the fortifications of Valletta, 40,000 people with belongings, food and livestock.
Besides the expression "Three Cities", the name of this urban complex in Latin is Civitas Cottonera, named after the great master builder of the fortifications.
List of services
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VittoriosaList item 1Il-Birgu – or simply Birgu – distinguished with the title of Città Vittoriosa (Victorious City) by the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem after the Great Siege of 1565, in which it played a vital role, is a locality in Malta with approximately 2,600 inhabitants, located east of the Grand Harbour, opposite the capital Valletta. It is the seat of a local council (Kunsill Lokali) within the Nofsinhar region (Reġjun). This locality, along with Bormla and Isla, forms one of the Three Cities of the Cottonera Lines.
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Bormla - Conspicuous CityList item 2Bormla, distinguished by the title of Città Cospicua (Peaceful City), is a Maltese town of approximately 5,500 inhabitants, located east of the Grand Harbour, opposite the capital Valletta. It is the seat of a local council (Kunsilli Lokali) within the Nofsinhar region (Reġjun). Together with the two other towns, Il-Birgu and L-Isla, it forms the Three Cities. The site has been inhabited since the Megalithic period; three megalithic structures have been found along with numerous pottery fragments, tools, and flints. Caves carved into the cliff face date back to the early Christian or Byzantine eras. A cave chapel was rediscovered during the clearing of rubble from the Second World War.
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L-Isla - Invicta City Senglea CityList item 3Isla – or simply Isla – distinguished by the title of Città Invicta and also known as Città Senglea, is a Maltese town of approximately 2,800 inhabitants, located south of Grand Harbour, opposite the capital Valletta. Isla is the seat of a local council (Kunsill Lokali) within the Nofsinhar region (Reġjun). It is one of the three Cities, along with Bormla and Vittoriosa. Its inhabitants are called Sengleani. At the time of the Great Siege of 1565, Isla was defended by Fort St. Michael, of which only the fortification walls remain. In the past, during the time of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the island was joined to Bormla by a causeway, giving it a peninsula-like shape. At that time, Isla was also a hunting ground.
