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The Cottonera Lines (( マルタ語:Is-Swar tal-Kottonera)), also known as the Valperga Lines (( マルタ語:Is-Swar ta' Valperga)), are a line of fortifications in Cospicua and Birgu, Malta. They were built in the 17th and 18th centuries to form the outer defences of the Three Cities of Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua. They surrounded an earlier line of fortifications, known as the Santa Margherita Lines. ==History== In 1638, construction of Santa Margherita Lines began around the land fronts of Birgu and Senglea. Works stopped soon after due to a lack of funds, and the lines remained unfinished. In 1669, fears of an Ottoman attack rose after the fall of Candia, and a new line of fortifications was proposed to encircle both the Birgu and Senglea land fronts, as well as the unfinished Santa Margherita Lines. The new line was named the Cottonera Lines after the reigning Grand Master, Nicolas Cotoner. It was designed by the Italian engineer Antonio Maurizio Valperga, who also modified the Floriana Lines and some other fortifications of the Grand Harbour. The Cottonera Lines were meant to accommodate up to 40,000 people and their animals within their circumference.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://birgu.gov.mt/node/2 )〕 Construction of the Cottonera Lines began in August 1670. The lines were called the "most ambitious work of fortification ever undertaken by the Knights of St John in Malta",〔 and in fact work was suspended due to a lack of funds in 1680. By this time, the bastioned enceinte was mostly complete and parts of the ditch had been excavated, but other crucial parts such as cavaliers, ravelins, the glacis and the covertway had not yet been built. In the early 18th century, some efforts were made to complete both the Cottonera and the Santa Margherita Lines. Gunpowder magazines were built on St. James and St. Clement Bastions, while Fort San Salvatore was built on St. Salvatore Bastion. The lines were eventually completed in the 1760s, but the ditch was left unfinished while the outworks and cavaliers were never built. During the French blockade of 1798–1800, the lines were held by the French. The Maltese insurgents who had rebelled against them built an entrenchment around the Cottonera Lines and the other fortifications in the harbour area. A number of batteries and lookout posts, such as Tal-Borg Battery and Windmill Redoubt, were also built in the vicinity. Meanwhile, the French bombarded the Maltese in Żabbar. The British modified the lines in the 19th century with the construction of St. Clement's Retrenchment, which connected the Cottonera Lines with the Santa Margherita Lines. In the 1870s, Valperga Bastion and St. Paul's Curtain were demolished to make way for an extension of the Malta Dockyard. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cottonera Lines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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