Victoria Gate (Valletta)

Victoria Gate
Il-Bieb Victoria
Victoria Gate after restoration
General information
Status	Intact
Type	City gate
Architectural style	Victorian
Location	Valletta, Malta
Coordinates	35°53′45.6″N 14°30′49.2″E / 35.896000°N 14.513667°E / 35.896000; 14.513667
Named for	Queen Victoria
Construction started	1884
Completed	1885
Owner	Government of Malta
Technical details
Material	Limestone
Design and construction
Architect	Emanuele Luigi Galizia

Victoria Gate (Maltese: Il-Bieb Victoria, Italian: Porta Victoria or Porta Vittoria) is a city gate in Valletta, Malta. It was built by the British in 1885, and was named after Queen Victoria. The gate is the main entrance into the city from the Grand Harbour area, which was once the busiest part of the city. The gate is located between Marina Curtain and St. Barbara Bastion, on the site of the 16th-century Del Monte Gate.

Victoria Gate is the only surviving gate within the fortifications of Valletta, since all the other fortified gates were demolished between the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the only other gate is the City Gate, which was built in 2014 to a modern design.

When Valletta was founded in 1566, a system of bastioned fortifications was built around the city, to a design by the Italian military engineer Francesco Laparelli. The city only had three gates, the main one being known as Porta San Giorgio, and two smaller gates on either side of the city which were known as the Marsamxett Gate and Del Monte Gate.

Del Monte Gate (Italian: Porta Del Monte) was built in 1569 to a design by Laparelli, and it was named after Grand Master Pierre de Monte. This gate was located between Marina Curtain and St. Barbara Bastion on the eastern side of the city, facing the Grand Harbour. The area around it became a small marina, and the gate was also called the Marina Gate (Italian: Porta Marina) since it provided access to the city from the marina. The area around the gate bustled with activity, and it included a garden known as Ġnien is-Sultan, the Church of Our Lady of Liesse and the Fish Market.