Part of the fortifications which form part of Fort St. Elmo. During the Great Siege of 1565 the old fort St Elmo resisted the continuous attacks of the Turkish forces thus giving time for the knights and the Maltese to strengthen the other fortifications; namely Fort St. Angelo, Vittoriosa and Senglea. The Grandmaster asked from the defenders the ultimate sacrifice, that of dying for their country and this they did as no defender left Fort St. Elmo alive. The Turkish fleet had appeared off the island on the 18th May and landed the main body of the army at Marsascirocco setting up a camp at Zabbar facing Birgu. After a conference Dragut attacked Fort St Elmo with all his forces, erecting shelters in front of the fort to protect his artillery from its guns. These shelters were small obstacles to the St Elmo gunners, who repeatedly demolished them; and, so long as the fort held out, it was impossible for the Turks to make full use of the heights of Sciberras from which artillery could so easily Birgu and Fort St Angelo. Attack after attack was pressed home on to St Elmo, But the solid stone walls of the star-fort deflected many of the shots, and the ditches, largely excavated from the solid rock, made mining a slow unprofitable expedient. Withering fire from the mass of the Turkish cannon finally broke down the walls and reduced all to rubble; and when enfilade fire from the guns prevented further reinforcements from being sent over from Birgu. The infantry closed in for a final blow, with ladders bridges and wooden towers, whilst twenty-two huge catapults bombarded and demolished what was left of the ramparts. On the 23rd June Fort St Elmo fell, and the last of its 1300 defenders died. At that time there were no other fortifications as Valletta was only built after the end of the Great Siege had ended well for the Order and the gallant Maltese. Help arrived from Sicily and the fleet under the Sicilian Viceroy Don Garcia y Toledo made it impossible for the demoralized Turkish forces to get reinforcements and be able to replenish their armies with food and ammunition, and so on the 8th September 1565 the last Turk left the island. The Order was lauded by all Christian monarchs and gifts were showered on them. The Grandmaster realized that Malta had to become their permanent base and so he embarked on fortifying an erstwhile unfortified island. The architect Francesco Laparelli was sent to Malta as a sign of the Pope’s personal gratitude for the Order’s heroic defence of Malta during the Great Siege of 1565. Although Laparelli planned the city it was continued and elaborated upon by Glormu Cassar one of Malta’s best architects. The fortifications were built in a way not to give any chance for the opposing forces to take a toe hold let alone a foothold on terra ferma. Their purpose was to attack while the enemy was still at sea with the added advantage that the guns in the fortifications embrasures were steady and could be aimed at ease while the enemy had to continuously compensate for the sea’s movement. Another thing would be that the stonework was stronger than the woodwork of the enemies’ ships.