Manoel Island sits in Marsamxett Harbour between Gżira, Sliema and Valletta. A Government agreement announced on 13 May 2026 returned the island and Fort Tigné to public hands, but the national-park process and visitor arrangements are not yet fully settled.
A small island at the meeting point
Look across Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island occupies a curious middle ground: close to Gżira and Sliema, yet facing Valletta across the water. Its position helps explain why the island’s story is not simply one of scenery. It became a place to manage movement into Malta, and a place from which to defend the harbour.
Before it was called Manoel Island, it was known as Bishop’s Islet. Gżira Local Council records that it belonged to the Bishop of Malta and had been acquired by the Cathedral Chapter of Mdina in 1570. The later name belongs to a different chapter, marked by the construction of the fort.
Quarantine came before the fort
The island’s quarantine history predates its fortress. During the plague outbreak of 1592, temporary quarantine facilities made from wooden huts were set up there. After the Order acquired the island in 1643, a permanent Lazaretto was established and later enlarged. The sequence gives Manoel Island an unusual double identity: a threshold for ships and people arriving in Malta, and a strong point guarding the harbour.
Fort Manoel was built under Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena, with its position linked to the defence of Valletta’s western flank. Construction began with the laying of the first stone on 14 September 1723. The date 1726, which appears on the gateway plaque, is not the date construction began.
The quieter traces beyond the walls
The fort and Lazaretto are the island’s best-known landmarks, but they are not its only historic traces. The local council identifies a small surviving chapel once associated with the island’s cemeteries. It also describes a former magazine used as a quarantine cattle shed, though that building has been extensively modified over time. These fragments point to the everyday work behind the grander story of defence and quarantine.
What changed in May 2026
On 13 May 2026, the Government announced an agreement with MIDI plc that returned Manoel Island and Fort Tigné to public hands and placed them under Heritage Malta’s responsibility. It was a consequential change in the island’s public status—not, by itself, a complete guide to how the sites would be managed or visited.
The Government said it would amend the local plan to prevent development on Manoel Island and continue work towards shaping the area as a national park. It also said Heritage Malta would coordinate with other entities and stakeholders on a management model. Those are announced next steps; the release does not establish that the island has already been formally designated a national park or that a final management plan is in place.
Can you visit the island, fort or Lazaretto?
The 13 May 2026 Government announcement confirms the public return and Heritage Malta’s responsibility, but it does not set out routine opening hours, confirm that every part of the island is accessible, or say whether ordinary visitors can enter Fort Manoel or the Lazaretto. So it would be unwise to treat the announcement as a promise of entry. Before making a trip specifically to see either historic building, check for current access information from Heritage Malta or the Government.
There was an earlier framework for public access: a Guardianship Deed signed in 2018 between MIDI plc, Gżira Local Council and the Manoel Island Foundation covered access to the public park, foreshore, swimming zones and Fort Manoel. That arrangement belongs to the period before the 2026 agreement, however, and should not be read as the definitive visitor policy now.
A crossroads between chapters
Manoel Island’s story is written in changing uses: Bishop’s Islet, quarantine ground, fortified harbour outpost, and now a site returned to public hands while its next form is still being worked out. The national-park idea gives the transition a direction, not yet a finished shape. For now, the most honest way to approach the island is as a place with a long past—and an important public future still under discussion.