Fort Tigné is a polygonal fort in Tigné Point, Sliema, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John between 1793 and 1795 to protect the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour, and it is one of the oldest polygonal forts in the world. The fort was extensively altered by the British in the 19th century, and it remained in use by the military until 1979.
View of Fort Tigné
The fort as seen from Valletta
Painting of the Hospitaller Governor of Fort Tigné, with the fort itself in the background
The fort's left flank and keep as seen from its glacis
A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerable. As part of ring fortresses, polygonal forts were generally arranged in a ring around the place they were intended to protect, so that each fort could support its neighbours. The concept of the polygonal fort proved to be adaptable to improvements in the artillery which might be used against them, and they continued to be built and rebuilt well into the 20th century.
An 1868 plan of Fort I of the ring fortress at Magdeburg, typical of mid-19th century polygonal forts
Fort de Querqueville, one of the casemated coastal forts at Cherbourg, which was based on Montalembert's system
Castle Williams in New York Harbor, constructed from 1807 according to Montalembert's system
Fort I of the Cologne ring fortress at Neustadt-Süd, showing the gate in the gorge wall, protected by the reduit on the left