Malta’s Historic Attractions

Malta has many beautiful natural sights like cliffs, viewpoints and hikes, as well as many historic attractions. I’ll describe a few of the more popular ones here.

The National Museum of Archaeology

The National Museum of Archaeology in Valetta holds the many exquisite carvings, figures and friezes found when the local megalithic sites were excavated.  This includes the ‘Venus of Malta”, the “Sleeping Lady” and many carved stones including an altar and several friezes. This museum is well worth the trip for the many artifacts found here, but do search out the ones that they show in the brochure (which include the Venus and exquisite Sleeping Lady). Of course, you can buy reproductions in the museum shop as well. Unless you are really interested in the archaeological history of the island you should plan on spending around 1 hour here to get a decent overview.

Malta Experience and Knight’s Hospital

When I first was in Valetta, I skipped the Malta Experience feeling it was more of a tourist trap, but another visitor told me it was good, and I went and was surprised at how much I learned through the 45-minute video that covered Malta’s history from around 5000 BC to now. So many different empires invaded Malta, so it has so many different cultural influences, which explains why they drive on the left and their language is related to Arabic, but they have a lot of Italian foods. As part of the entry fee, you also get a tour of the Knight’s Hospital across the street. It is now a convention center but there are still some remains from the use of the building as a hospital including this beautiful bed label. The hospital treated rich patients for pay and poor patients for free, but no women (they were tended at home). The Knights were leading the times with their ideas for treatment, and were using honey to treat wounds, and even served food in silver bowls to stop bacteria spread.

The Inquisitor’s Palace

The Inquisitor’s Palace is the only such building in the world open to tours.  Here you can see the tribunal rooms where people were brought to be tried for heresy.  You can also see the prison rooms and the torture chamber.  Also on the tour, you can see the inquisitor’s living quarters, private chapel, and the kitchen areas that were used at the time. Depending on how many of the displays you read, you should plan on spending an hour to two hours here.

Mdina, the old walled town, and Rabat

Mdina (which means city) is 4000 year-old walled village that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This former capital was known in the Medieval Ages as the Noble City (for its many noble houses, many of which have descendants still living in the city, even in the same homes, as foreigners aren’t allowed to buy property in the city).  The high outer walls and an impressive main gate surround a now pedestrian-only area with beautiful narrow “streets” and several museums and churches. Just outside is Rabat (which means suburb).

Inside the city, you can visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is a glorious Baroque building with a large dome, marble columns, ceiling paintings, and a 12th-century Madonna. The city also houses Palazzo Vilhena which now holds the National Museum of Natural History, and was inspired by Versailles. The Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum is also in town and is a medieval palace in more original condition.

St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat consists of several underground areas that can be entered from steep steps from the surface. These catacombs were originally dug starting around the 3rd or 4th century BC, and then expanded over the years. Since there are many entrances, each has a sign telling you what you can hope to find when you go down. In some there are carvings or paint remains, some have unusually designed spaces, or other things of interest. So you can check if you want to climb in and out if you are tired or hot. You can spend a half hour here if you just want to check out a few of the catacombs, or you can spend much more time if you want to check out all of them. Personally, I found it hot and sweaty due to the humidity and all the stairs and probably went in a little more than half of them and was quite happy.

Mosta Rotunda

In Mosta, the Rotunda is a beautiful church. I was lucky enough to be there at the time a wedding was held so there was beautiful singing and harp music while I toured. The church was struck by a bomb during the war that didn’t explode, and the bomb is now in the back of the church and you can see it when you tour.

For more about Malta, click here.