The Malta Historical Society invites you to the public lecture, Fort Chambray: From Design to Construction by Joseph Scicluna.
The lecture “Fort Chambray: From Design to Construction” will explore the challenges faced during the first eight years of building the fortified town. Who were the contractors entrusted with the excavation? Who received land grants within the fort? And why, despite the ambition and investment, did the project not result in a fully realized town?
This talk offers a close look at the difficult choices, conflicts, and decisions that shaped—or compromised—the future of Fort Chambray.
The Speaker:
Joseph Scicluna, originally from Għajnsielem, Gozo, studied at the University of Toronto and the University of Malta. As a historian, he specializes in early modern Maltese history and the legacy of the Order of St John.
Since 2009, he has researched Fort Chambray and its benefactor, culminating in his book Jacques François de Chambray: The Order he Served, the Island he Loved, and the Fort he Built (Kite Group, 2023), which won the 2024 National Book Prize for Historiographic Research. His recent article, ‘Fort Chambray’s Polverista’, appeared in Treasures of Malta (No. 91, Christmas 2024). He is currently working on a second book about a key period in the history of the Order of St John.
