SS. Peter and Paul Bastion
is a large, two-tiered bulwark which anchored Valletta’s enceinte on the Grand
Harbour side of the land front. The bastion was largely carved out of the
bedrock forming the main land front ditch. The bastion originally contained a
low piazza bassa in its
right flank before this was roofed over and converted into a gunpowder magazine
by the British military in the course of the 19th century. The bastions flank
is protected by a massive rounded orillion believed to have been grafted onto
the shoulder of the bastion around 1582. A sally-port opening in the face of the
bastion provided a means of communication, via an arched bridge, to the tiered
counterguard built to protect the bastion in 1640. This bastion had a very
heavily consumed masonry fabric and fissured bedrock, requiring various types
of interventions to repair the damaged stonework and to remove the rampant
spread of vegetation. The restoration task was made more difficult owing to the
extreme height of the bastion walls, which exceeded 50m along the Grand Harbour
side of the ditch. The bastion terrace is a popular public garden and scenic
viewing point for the Grand Harbour.