Wied Musa Battery

Wied Musa Battery

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The Wied Musa Battery is a former artillery battery in Marfa, limits of Mellieħa, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John in 1714–1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the Maltese Islands. In the 19th century, the battery was converted into the Marfa Palace Hotel, and it is also known as Palazz l-Aħmar (Red Palace). The structure was extensively modified in the process, and its blockhouse was incorporated into new buildings. Despite this, the parapet is still intact and is among the best preserved gun platforms in Malta.

Wied Musa Battery was built between 1714 and 1716 as part of a building programme of coastal fortifications in Malta. It was part of a chain of fortifications that defended the northern coast of Malta, which also included Aħrax Tower, several batteries, redoubts and entrenchments. Wied Musa Battery also commanded the South Comino Channel in conjunction with Saint Mary's Battery on the island of Comino. The battery originally consisted of a semi-circular gun platform with a parapet having four embrasures. It had a rectangular blockhouse closing its gorge, which was also protected by a redan. In 1785, its armament consisted of four 8-pounder guns. Its ammunition was stored in the nearby Saint Agatha's Tower.

In the 19th century, a hotel was built on the rear of the battery. The blockhouse was incorporated into the new structure, and the redan was demolished. The hotel and battery were later used as a retreat house and as a police station. The structure fell into disuse in the 1990s, and it was illegally occupied by squatters who were evicted after a fire broke out in 2005, and the hotel and battery have remained abandoned ever since.

Since the blockhouse was incorporated into a hotel, only its left room has survived in its original form. The blockhouse's musketry loopholes are still visible. The battery's gun platform still exists in a good state of preservation. Its original hardstone flagstones and places for stacking cannonballs have also survived. The entire building is abandoned, and is in a dilapidated state although the structure is still stable but still needs urgent restoration.

A niched shrine dedicated to the Holy Mary is located close by and further by the sea shore one will find a Pillbox built by the British to defend this stretch of coast during World War 2.