Albeit construction of the Cottonera Lines started in 1670, it was only in 1724 that part of Our Saviour Bastion, named after the hill bearing the same name, was converted into a fort by French military engineers, upon advice by Charles François de Mondion and René Jacob de Tigné. The main purpose was to defend the area around Kalkara Creek and Our Saviour hill.
The fort consists of two demi-bastions, a curtain wall and a parade ground. The British Empire continued to utilised this fort: it served as a camp for Turkish prisoners during the Greek War of Independence in 1824, and for German prisoners in the First World War. Moreover, during the 20th century Our Saviour Fort was used as a children’s reformatory, while in the Second World War the Maltese bearing Italian sympathy were interred in it before being exiled to Uganda.
