St. John Counterguard and Bridge

St. John Counterguard and Bridge

St. John Counterguard is a massive pentagonal artillery platform that was one of four counterguards designed by the Italian military engineer Giovanni de Medici in 1640, in order to provide added protection to Valletta’s land front. This counterguard was built in the form of a large detached bastion. Structurally, it is a solid massif with few internal covered spaces, the main elements of which are vaulted communication passages and a 19th-century gunpowder magazine. It is also linked to a sally-port in the face of St. John Bastion directly by means of an arched bridge while a ramp, cut through the gorge of the  counterscarp around 1735, leads down into the main ditch. The interior of St. John  counterguard is used for sports facilities.