[1] A watch post existed on Punta di Santa Maria (now known as Tigné Point after the fort) in 1417.

[2] The peninsula played a significant role during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, when the invading Ottomans built a battery on it in order to bombard, and eventually take, Fort Saint Elmo.

[3][4] The first proposal to build a fortification on Dragut Point was made by the Italian military engineer Antonio Maurizio Valperga in 1670.

He proposed a fortified city known as Borgo della Città Piccola, with a design similar to Fort Ricasoli.

[5] The designs for Fort Tigné were eventually made in 1792, possibly due to the threat of a French invasion.

[7] Upon the completion of Fort Tigné, the nearby Lembi Battery was decommissioned and converted into a private residence.

At the time, it was commanded by the Bavarian knight Joseph Maria von Rechberg, and had a garrison made up of men from the Cacciatori, who were a volunteer chasseur light infantry regiment,[10] as well as some bombardiers from the ship San Zaccharia and some Maltese militia.

[12] By 1799, its armament was reduced to 21 guns, which were as follows:[11] Fort Tigné was officially taken over by the British military in September 1800, and it became permanently garrisoned in 1805.

The parapet on the circular keep was demolished to make way for a single gun mounted on a traversing platform, similar to the ones found on the Martello towers.

[11] The first major modifications were made between 1870 and 1875, when some of the parapets with embrasures were demolished to make way for emplacements for RML 9 inch 12 ton guns.

In the 1880s, the British considered demolishing the fort and replacing it with a larger fortification, but in 1888 it was proposed that instead of demolition, the height of the ramparts should be reduced to the level of the glacis.

The alterations made by the British, such as the BL gun emplacements, were also repaired, while landscaped gardens and walkways were built on the glacis.

[16] There were a number of proposals on how to use the building, including for catering facilities, as a military museum, an exhibition space or as an art gallery.

[17] The design of Fort Tigné was mainly based on the Lunette d'Arçon, as well as the work of Marc René, marquis de Montalembert.

The final design by Antoine Étienne de Tousard resulted in a revolutionary fortification, which made it one of the oldest polygonal forts in the world.

This was modeled on the reduit de surete of the Lunette d'Arçon, and it also bears similarities to the tour-reduits built in Malta in the early 18th century (the only surviving example is Vendôme Tower).