The Victoria Lines, the wall that split Malta in two and never saw a fight

The Victoria Lines are one of those places few people put on their Malta itinerary and that I think are a gift. A wall running the full width of the island, built by the British Empire over more than twenty years and abandoned just ten years after it got its name, because it turned out to be useless. For a British visitor it’s a very Victorian story. Here’s what the lines are, their history by date and how to walk a stretch without overcomplicating it.

What are the Victoria Lines?

The best description is the one Malta submitted to UNESCO in 1998 for its Tentative List. It all rests on the Great Fault, a natural barrier crossing the whole width of the island north of Mdina and practically splitting it in two. Along that ridge the British built forts, batteries and a continuous wall to stop any enemy landing in the north from reaching the Grand Harbour.

The UNESCO entry doesn’t give a length. Wikipedia, which isn’t an official source, says about 12 km from coast to coast, which fits what you see on a map.

From the Knights to Queen Victoria

The idea wasn’t new. UNESCO says the fault had been used for defence since prehistoric times, and that the Knights were the first to fortify it systematically in 1722, with masonry entrenchments so the islanders could resist an invasion from the north.

The big project was British. In 1875 work began on the North West Front with three polygonal forts, each of its own design, Madliena at the eastern end, Bingemma at the western and Mosta in the centre. The central stretch also got a permanent entrenchment, the Dwejra Lines. In the 1890s all the strongpoints were joined by an infantry wall following the ridge, and wherever a valley broke the fault, low fortified stop walls carried the line across. Behind it stood the Mtarfa barracks and, on the coast, Fort Pembroke. In 1897, nearly complete, the whole thing was named the Victoria Lines for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

What use were they?

Almost none, and that’s what I find fascinating. UNESCO tells it without sugar-coating. In May 1900 a military exercise showed the position could be bypassed with relative ease. By 1907 the lines had lost all military value and were abandoned. The forts, except Fort Mosta, carried on for a while with 9.2-inch and 6-inch guns for coastal defence.

It’s the flip side of the forts of Malta. Where Fort St Elmo held for a month in 1565, the Victoria Lines never saw a shot fired in anger.

How do you walk the Victoria Lines?

I need to be clear here. I haven’t found an officially waymarked route, with distances and access points, in any public source I can cite. Nor do I know from a source which forts you can go inside. So I’m not going to hand you a made-up itinerary.

What I would do is a short stretch. The line passes above Mġarr in the west, Mosta in the centre and Madliena in the east, whose fort stands in Swieqi, near Għargħur, and there are buses from Valletta to the first two. Mosta parish lists routes 41, 42, 44, 45 and 48, and Malta Public Transport runs the 44 to Mġarr. I’d wear decent shoes, carry water and a map on my phone, and avoid the middle of a summer’s day, because on an exposed ridge the sun is fierce. Walking and hiking in Malta covers planning walks on the island.

What to see nearby

The trick with the Victoria Lines is to combine them. In the west, the Ta’ Ħaġrat and Skorba temples in Mġarr are two of the six UNESCO-listed complexes and cost €3.50 each. In the centre, Mosta has its Rotunda, with the 1942 bomb story, and the Ta’ Bistra Catacombs, open on the last Sunday of each month. South of the fault lies Mdina, a bus ride from Valletta.

I’d do the Victoria Lines in winter or spring, when the light is soft, and I’d save them for a second trip if this is your first. But if you already know Valletta and Mdina, they’re the cheapest way to understand how the British thought about defending Malta.