[a] The first city walls were built in the Middle Ages, but they were completely rebuilt in the mid-16th century by the Republic of Venice during their war with the Ottoman Empire.

[4] This changed following the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, when fears of Ottoman expansion increased and many Christian states in the Mediterranean began to strengthen their fortifications.

[5] In 1567, the Venetians decided to fortify the city, and commissioned the Italian military engineers Giulio Savorgnan and Francesco Barbaro to design the new fortifications.

[7] At the same time, the Pedieos River was diverted outside the city to protect the residents from flooding and to fill the moat encircling the new walls.

The bastions are named after eleven families, pillars of the Italian aristocracy of the town, who donated funds towards the construction of the walls.

Their design incorporates specific innovative techniques, marking the beginning of a renaissance era in fortification construction.

These include the positioning of gates to the side of the adjoining bastions, so they could be more easily protected in times of siege, and leaving the upper half of the wall unlined with masonry, to increase its ability to absorb the impact from cannon shot.