Saluting Battery (Valletta)

Saluting Battery
Batterija tas-Salut
Part of the fortifications of Valletta
Valletta, Malta
The Saluting Battery as seen from the Upper Barrakka Gardens
Logo of the Saluting Battery
Map of the Saluting Battery within St. Peter & Paul Bastion
Coordinates	35°53′40.61″N 14°30′44.89″E / 35.8946139°N 14.5124694°E / 35.8946139; 14.5124694
Type	Artillery battery
Site information
Owner	Government of Malta
Operator	Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Intact
Website	www.salutingbattery.com
Site history
Built	1560s
Built by	Order of Saint John British Empire
In use	1560s–1954
Materials	Limestone
Battles/wars	Siege of Malta (1798–1800) World War II

The Saluting Battery (Maltese: Batterija tas-Salut) is an artillery battery in Valletta, Malta. It was constructed in the 16th century by the Order of Saint John, on or near the site of an Ottoman battery from the Great Siege of Malta. The battery forms the lower tier of St. Peter & Paul Bastion of the Valletta Land Front, located below the Upper Barrakka Gardens and overlooking Fort St. Angelo and the rest of the Grand Harbour.

The Saluting Battery was mainly used for firing ceremonial gun salutes and signals, but it also saw military use during the blockade of 1798–1800 and World War II. The battery remained an active military installation until its guns were removed by the British in 1954. It was restored and opened to the public in the early 21st century, and it is now equipped with eight working replicas of SBBL 32 pounders which fire gun signals daily at 1200 and 1600.

The origins of the Saluting Battery go back to the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. During the siege, Ottoman forces mounted cannon on the Sciberras Peninsula (now occupied by Valletta and Floriana) to bombard the Order of Saint John in Fort St. Angelo. One of the siege batteries was located close to where the Saluting Battery is now, since the area is on high ground and has clear views of St. Angelo and the rest of the Grand Harbour.