Qbajjar Battery to be given to Din l-Art Helwa

Din l-Art Ħelwa council member Daniel Cilia has welcomed the decision to hand over Gozo’s abandoned Qbajjar Battery to the NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa for restoration and management.

Speaking to GozoToday, Cilia described the decision as a “dream come true,” saying it follows 19 years of dedicated effort. He added that there are already plans for the site once restoration is complete. According to Cilia, the battery could serve as an excellent venue for concerts as well as other cultural events.

The decision followed a meeting at Auberge de Castille between Din l-Art Ħelwa President Patrick Calleja, the Prime Minister, Minister Owen Bonnici, and other members of Din l-Art Ħelwa. During the meeting, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the work being carried out by the NGO, and discussions also touched on the future of Fort Tigné.

Ministers Clint Camilleri and Owen Bonnici then made the announcement on Tuesday on Facebook. 

Constructed by the Knights in the early 18th century, the Qolla l-Bajda Battery formed part of a chain of coastal defences. It remains the only surviving artillery battery of its type on Gozo.

Last year, attention was drawn to the Grade 1 scheduled landmark as it had been subject to neglect, deterioration, and vandalism.

In April 2023, Din l-Art Ħelwa said that despite the government’s pledge to transfer the property to the NGO, delays in the process were so prolonged that urgent restoration works risked coming too late, by which time the building could be destroyed.

In January 2025, the Lands Authority and Heritage Malta stated they would undertake works to “eliminate danger” within the structure.

Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex welcomed the decision, confirming that the government would be signing a guardianship deed entrusting the NGO to “restore, preserve and manage the historic Qbajjar Battery in Gozo with access to the public and visitors to our islands hand in hand with the Żebbuġ Local Council.”

The Qbajjar Battery is an artillery battery built by the Order of Saint John in 1715 as part of a series of coastal fortifications around the coast of the Maltese Islands and is one of only two left in Gozo and one in Comino.

Both of these the St Anthony Battery in Qala and that of St Mary Battery in Comino have been in the past already restored by Din l-Art Ħelwa.

In the 1970s, the Battery was handed over for private use as a nightclub and disco. Significant damage was inflicted through excavations and later accretions, which severely compromised the fabric of the building. In recent years, it has been left exposed to the elements, with a real risk of total loss. With unrestricted public access, it has also been used for camping and summer squatting and has effectively become a dumping ground.

In October 2005 the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage suggested to the Lands Department that the battery should be passed over to Din l-Art Helwa, for the building to be maintained properly, to have all the illegal additional constructions removed, and to open the battery to the public. 

The NGO said that “several successive administrations have since made promises to Din L’Art Helwa that the Battery will be passed on the the NGO but various reasons the situation remained stalled for many years while the Battery continued to deteriorate.” 

“We take heart from the consistent support extended to us by the Żebbuġ Local Council to preserve this architectural structure and and the increasingly strong message from so many across Maltese society that Malta and Gozo’s history and patrimony are not for sale,” the NGO said.