Fortifications of Mdina

Fortifications of Mdina
Is-Swar tal-Imdina
Mdina, Malta
Aerial view of Mdina and its fortifications
Map of Mdina's fortifications as they are today
Mdina
Coordinates	35°53′4.4″N 14°24′8.6″E / 35.884556°N 14.402389°E / 35.884556; 14.402389
Type	City wall
Site information
Owner	Government of Malta Various private owners
Condition	Intact
Site history
Built	Antiquity–1746
Built by	Several builders, most of the present walls were built by the Order of Saint John
Materials	Limestone
Battles/wars	Siege of Melite (870) Siege of Medina (1053–54) Norman invasion of Malta (1091) Siege of Malta (1429) Attack of 1551 Great Siege of Malta (1565) French invasion of Malta (1798) Maltese uprising (1798)
Garrison information
Past commanders	Amros (Ambrosios) (870) Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon (1551) Pietro Mesquita (1565) Louis Masson (1798)

The fortifications of Mdina (Maltese: Is-Swar tal-Imdina) are a series of defensive walls which surround the former capital city of Mdina, Malta. The city was founded as Maleth by the Phoenicians in around the 8th century BC, and it later became part of the Roman Empire under the name Melite. The ancient city was surrounded by walls, but very few remains of these have survived.

The city walls were rebuilt a number of times, including by the Byzantine Empire in around the 8th century AD, the Arabs in around the 11th century, and the Kingdom of Sicily in the medieval period until the 15th century. Most of the extant fortifications were built by the Order of Saint John between the 16th and 18th centuries.

The city has withstood a number of sieges, and it was defeated twice – first by the Aghlabids in 870 and then by Maltese rebels in 1798. Today, the city walls are still intact except for some outworks, and they are among the best preserved fortifications in Malta. Mdina has been on Malta's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998.

The city of Mdina occupies the tip of a plateau located on high ground in the northern part of the island of Malta, far away from the sea. The site has been inhabited since prehistory, and by the Bronze Age it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible. The Phoenicians colonized Malta in around the 8th century BC, and they founded the city of Maleth on this plateau. It was taken over by the Roman Republic in 218 BC, becoming known as Melite. The Punic-Roman city was about three times the size of present-day Mdina, extending into a large part of modern Rabat. Melite's walls had a thickness of around 5 m (16 ft) and were surrounded by a 700 m (2,300 ft)-long ditch.