City Gate

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City Gate (Maltese: Bieb il-Belt, literally "Door of the City") is a gate located at the entrance of Valletta, Malta. The present gate, which is the fifth one to have stood on the site, was built between 2011 and 2014 to designs of the Italian architect Renzo Piano. The first gate which stood on the site was Porta San Giorgio, which was built in 1569 to designs of either Francesco Laparelli or Girolamo Cassar. The gate was renamed Porta Reale (Maltese: Putirjal) in around 1586, before being rebuilt in 1633, probably to designs of Tommaso Dingli. It was briefly renamed Porte Nationale during the French occupation of Malta in 1798, but its name reverted to Porta Reale when Malta fell under British rule in 1800. In 1853, this was once again replaced by a larger gate, which was also known as Kingsgate or Kingsway. These first three gates were all fortified, forming part of Valletta's city walls. The gate was also informally called the Porta di terra (meaning "land gate") since it was the only landward approach to the city.

The last fortified gate was demolished in 1964, being replaced by a Futurist gate designed by Alziro Bergonzo. This gate was then demolished in 2011, and it was replaced by Piano's gate which was completed in 2014.

City Gate is located within the Porta Reale Curtain, a curtain wall at the centre of the Valletta Land Front, located between St. James' and St. John's Bastions. A bridge spanning across Valletta's deep ditch leads to the gate. The gate was originally protected by a couvre porte, an advanced ditch and a lunette known as St. Madeleine's Lunette.During British rule, the lunette was demolished and part of the advanced ditch was filled in. The site was later occupied by the bus terminus, with the Triton Fountain at the centre. The square around the fountain has been converted into a pedestrian area.

The gate marks the beginning of Republic Street (Maltese: Triq ir-Repubblika), Valletta's main street which goes all the way until Fort Saint Elmo at the opposite end of the city. The buildings in the immediate vicinity of the City Gate include the Parliament House, the ruins of the Royal Opera House and the City Gate Shopping Arcade. Saint James Cavalier and Saint John's Cavalier are located on either side of the gate, near the Parliament House and shopping arcade respectively.

City Gate was one of the three gates leading to the city – the others being the Marsamxett Gate and Del Monte Gate, on the western and eastern extremities of the city.Marsamxett Gate was demolished in the early 20th century, while Del Monte Gate was replaced by Victoria Gate in 1885.

First gate (1569–1633)

The original gate to Valletta was known as Porta San Giorgio, and was built during the reign of Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette, after whom the city is named. Porta San Giorgio was possibly designed by Francesco Laparelli, the Italian military engineer who designed most of the fortifications of Valletta, or by his Maltese assistant Girolamo Cassar. Construction started in April 1566 and it was complete by 1569.The gate was rather plain in design, and was simply an unadorned small opening in the curtain walls.

A timber bridge originally linked Porta San Giorgio with the countryside across the ditch. Sometime before 1582, a stone bridge replaced the wooden one. The bridge itself was replaced a number of times, but its rock-hewn foundations remain intact and continue to support the present bridge.

In around 1586, during the reign of Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, the gate was renamed Porta Reale.In the late 16th century, a smaller outer gate was built and a triumphal arch was added above the original gate.

The second city gate was built in 1633, during the magistracy of Grand Master Antoine de Paule. This gate was more ornate than its predecessor Porta San Giorgio, and it consisted of a central archway with a smaller arch at each side, and a wooden drawbridge across the deep, dry ditch that lies immediately outside the city walls.