Fashioned on the tip of Birgu Peninsula, Fort St Angelo played an important role throughout Maltese history. Over the centuries, it has undergone countless modification and additions. When Knights of Saint John arrived to Malta in 1530, they fist settled in Birgu and made Fort St Angelo its primary fortification. Fort withstood the Turks during the Great Siege of Malta. In the aftermath of that war, the Knights built the fortified city of Valletta on the other side of the Grand Harbour, and the Order's administrative center moved there.
After many years, in 2001, the Sovereign Order of Malta came to the agreement with the government of the Republic of Malta. It allows the official presence of the Order on the island. Treaty grants the Order limited extraterritoriality of the upper portion of Fort St. Angelo for 99 years. According to the agreement, the national flag of Malta must be flown next to the flag of the Order, and Maltese laws still apply to the part of the Fort occupied by the Order.
