Fort Chambray

The fort was built to defend a town that was never built. It was designed from 1716 plans by the military engineer Louis François de Tigné and funded by Jacques-François de Chambray, the Order of St John's governor, who gave it his name. Construction began in September 1749 under Francesco Marandon; it was almost ready by 1757 and finished in the early 1760s. The Baroque grid town it was meant to enclose was never laid out. It capitulated to the French in June 1798 and was retaken on 28 and 29 October of the same year.

Then a century and a half as a hospital, which is the part of its history the redevelopment reaches. The British made it a military hospital from about 1830 and expanded it in the Crimean War and again in the First World War: thousands of sick and wounded passed through between October 1915 and its closure in March 1916. The military gave up the fort in 1916. From 1934 to 1983 it was a civilian mental hospital, housing up to two hundred patients, and from 1937 to 1956 part of it was a leprosarium. The Garrison Cemetery was cleared in the mid-1980s and the remains moved to Xewkija on 1 July 1991.

It was the first special designated area Malta ever created. The Fort Chambray order is Legal Notice 124 of 1993, in force 17 September 1993 — item one of the First Schedule, six years ahead of Portomaso. A development brief was issued in January 1992 and residential redevelopment began in January 1993, with a master plan in 1995 and a further plan for phases two and three approved in 2012. Legal Notice 205 of 2024 repealed articles 3 to 7 of that order, which carried the conditions, permissible uses and fees attached to the designation — a change to the terms of the oldest designation in the Schedule, which the register records and does not interpret.

And the reason this record is the register's most contested. A Planning Authority permit of December 2024 allows the demolition of roughly 85 per cent of the British Barracks and the relocation of its façade for intensive residential and hotel development. Din l-Art Ħelwa, Moviment Graffitti and ICOMOS Malta objected and appealed; the appeals were rejected by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. On 26 February 2026 the British Barracks at Fort Chambray were included in Europa Nostra's 7 Most Endangered Programme 2026, nominated by Din l-Art Ħelwa. That is the most recent verified position: permitted, contested, and not built out.

On who holds it the register publishes what it can and no more. The designation order names the Emphyteutical Land and a deed of 24 January 2005. The chain since — a concession held from 2004 by Michael Caruana, the Government permitting transfer of a public concession rather than repossessing after missed contract targets, and a transferee named as BBT Gozo Fort Ltd — rests on reporting by The Shift News of 8 December 2024 and the register could not verify any of it against the Land Registry, the Malta Business Registry, a Gazette notice or a court judgment. It is carried as press-reported and labelled so.

Malta's Special Designated Areas are a property-law exemption under the Immovable Property (Acquisition by Non-Residents) Act, Chapter 246: article 5(1)(b) disapplies the permit requirement for “the acquisition of immovable property by any person, wherever resident, in a special designated area.” It confers no immigration status. Since the Court of Justice's ruling of 29 April 2025 and Legal Notice 159 of 2025, no property purchase in Malta leads to Maltese citizenship; the Permanent Residence Programme's EUR 375,000 threshold is separate and applies anywhere in Malta or Gozo, SDA or not.

Sources

• legislation.mt (Immovable Property (Acquisition by Non-Residents) Act, Chapter 246 of the Laws of Malta — article 2 defining a special designated area and article 5(1)(b) disapplying the permit requirement for ‘the acquisition of immovable property by any person, wherever resident, in a special designated area’; First Schedule listing twenty-seven zones — https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/246/eng)
• curia.europa.eu (Court of Justice of the European Union, press release CP 52/25, Case C-181/23 Commission v Malta, Grand Chamber, 29 April 2025: ‘A Member State cannot grant its nationality – and indeed European citizenship – in exchange for predetermined payments or investments, as this essentially amounts to rendering the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction.’ — https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2025-04/cp250052en.pdf)
• legislation.mt (Fort Chambray (Designated Special Area) Order, S.L. 246.03 — Legal Notice 124 of 1993, in force 17 September 1993, designating ‘Fort Chambray in the limits of Għajnsielem in the Island of Gozo, consisting of immovable property which is defined as the “Emphyteutical Land”’ and referencing a deed of Notary Dr Vincent Miceli of 24 January 2005; amended by Legal Notices 411 of 2007 and 205 of 2024, the latter repealing articles 3 to 7 — https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/246.3/eng/pdf)
• 7mostendangered.eu (Europa Nostra: the British Barracks at Fort Chambray included in the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2026 on 26 February 2026, nominated by Din l-Art Ħelwa; a Planning Authority permit of December 2024 allowing demolition of roughly 85 per cent of the barracks and relocation of the façade for intensive residential and hotel development; objections and appeals by Din l-Art Ħelwa, Moviment Graffitti and ICOMOS Malta rejected by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal — https://7mostendangered.eu/sites/british-barracks-at-fort-chambray-malta/)
• en.wikipedia.org (chronology, citing Buhagiar and Cassar 2003: 1716 plans by Louis François de Tigné; funded by Jacques-François de Chambray; construction from September 1749 under Francesco Marandon, almost ready 1757 and completed in the early 1760s; the intended Baroque town never built; capitulation to the French June 1798 and recapture 28–29 October 1798; British military hospital from c.1830, expanded in the Crimean War and the First World War, thousands of patients between October 1915 and closure in March 1916; the military giving up the fort in 1916; civilian mental hospital 1934–1983 housing up to two hundred patients; leprosarium 1937–1956; Garrison Cemetery cleared in the mid-1980s and remains moved to Xewkija 1 July 1991; development brief January 1992, residential redevelopment from January 1993, master plan 1995, phases two and three approved 2012 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chambray)
• PRESS-REPORTED, NOT VERIFIED — theshiftnews.com 08.12.2024 (the concession held since 2004 by Michael Caruana; the Government permitting transfer of the public concession rather than repossessing it after missed contract targets; the transferee named as BBT Gozo Fort Ltd). The register could not verify the concession, the transfer or the shareholding against the Land Registry, the Malta Business Registry, a Gazette notice or a court judgment, and carries it as reporting.
• NOT ESTABLISHED — the unit count of any consented scheme, the Planning Authority application number, and any court judgment on the fort. The permit date and the 85 per cent demolition scope are Europa Nostra's statement of them, not the Authority's own.
• christiesrealestatemalta.com and openhouse.com.mt 16.11.2025 (agents: restored properties with panoramic views, and homes within the historic fort). Carried as the only published description of what is actually for sale there, against a permit that is contested and nothing built.

Pages read are linked.

• 7mostendangered.eu
• curia.europa.eu
• en.wikipedia.org
• legislation.mt
• theshiftnews.com

Verification

Official source

Checked

Inventory

From official source

Property confirmation

Pending

Last verified

—

Booking

Private Residences records addresses; it does not broker them. Enquiries are passed to the party named in the record, and nothing on this site is an offer.

Classified by The Resort Collection House · Edition 2026 · PR-D-294