City Gate (Valletta)

The first gate which stood on the site was Porta San Giorgio, which was built in 1569 to designs of either Francesco Laparelli or Girolamo Cassar.

[5] The original gate to Valletta was known as Porta San Giorgio, and was built during the reign of Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette, after whom the city is named.

[7] In around 1586, during the reign of Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, the gate was renamed Porta Reale.

This gate was more ornate than its predecessor Porta San Giorgio, and it consisted of a central archway with a smaller arch at each side, and a wooden drawbridge across the deep, dry ditch that lies immediately outside the city walls.

VI of 1814, which was issued by Governor Sir Thomas Maitland, the British coat of arms was installed at the gate in 1815.

[12] The gate was modified over time, and by the late 18th and early 19th centuries there were a number of features which had not been part of Dingli's original design.

[15] On 24 July 1892, a bronze bust of Pope Pius V, who had made significant financial contributions to the building of Valletta, was installed above the archway on the rear of the gate.

[17] Kingsgate survived the bombings of World War II, although it was slightly damaged in April 1942, when the bridge leading to the gate was hit by aerial bombardment.

In 2005, the bust was moved to Great Siege Square, close to Saint John's Co-Cathedral and the Law Courts.

[16] The fourth city gate was built between June 1964 and August 1965 to designs of the architect Alziro Bergonzo, in the Italian rationalist style.

[21] The gate was part of a project that was never fully completed, that of redeveloping the entrance to Valletta and the Royal Opera House.

The Italian architect Renzo Piano first made plans to redevelop the entrance of Valletta in 1988, but the project was shelved by 1992.

[22] Piano's new plans were revealed on 27 June 2009,[23] and City Gate was demolished between 2 and 5 May 2011, with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi attending the demolition.

This gate is very different from the previous ones, as it consists of a breach in the bastions, flanked by large blocks of stone which are separated from the curtain walls by high blades of steel.

[6] The new gate has been compared to the ancient Egyptian Temple of Edfu, with critics saying that the breach in the bastions is out of place in the largely Mannerist and Baroque city.

[29] In October 2014, an art installation entitled Prospettiva was inaugurated in Girolamo Cassar Avenue, close to the bus terminus.

1910 painting of the bridge leading to City Gate
17th-century drawbridge believed to originate from the second city gate, now exhibited at the Fortifications Interpretation Centre
Kingsgate in the early 1900s
Bust of Pope Pius V which was installed at Porta Reale in 1892, now placed in Great Siege Square
Fourth gate pictured in 2006
Fifth city gate under construction in 2013
Part of the Prospettiva art installation showing Valletta's five city gates
Parliament building in 2018
Coat of arms of Valletta
Coat of arms of Valletta