Countries

Big stories

All stories →
0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

City

Mdina

The silent city on the hill, Malta's capital for 2,000 years.

4 museums
All museums ↓
📷 Frank Vincentz · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Behind its walls on a ridge in the middle of Malta, Mdina keeps palaces, a baroque cathedral and almost no noise.

Museums in Mdina

Look inside, then pay your admission straight to the museum.

The story of Mdina

People have lived on this hill for thousands of years; the Romans called it Melite, the Arabs gave it walls and the name Mdina, the walled city. Noble Maltese families built their palaces here and stayed when the knights moved the capital to Valletta. Enter through the Main Gate, see the cathedral of Saint Paul, rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, and the Cathedral Museum with its prints by Albrecht Dürer. Climb to Bastion Square for a view over half of Malta. Have tea and cake on the walls in the afternoon, and come back after dark when the lanterns are lit and the streets are empty.

  • 2,000+years as a town on the same hill
  • 1693an earthquake destroys the old cathedral
  • ~250people live inside the walls today

Mdina through time

The big moments, and where to see them today.

  1. 1693After the earthquake, Lorenzo Gafà designs a new baroque cathedral.See it: Mdina Cathedral Museum →
  2. 1798Mdina's people rise against the French garrison, starting the Maltese revolt.See it: Mdina Cathedral Museum →

What to do in Mdina

  1. 01

    Mdina Cathedral Museum →

    Paintings, silver and Dürer's woodcuts in the old seminary.

    Mdina1 hour
  2. 02

    National Museum of Natural History →

    Fossils, minerals and birds in Vilhena Palace.

    Mdina1 hour
  3. 03

    Palazzo Falson →

    A medieval house full of a collector's paintings, silver and old weapons.

    Mdina1 hour
Getting there

Getting to Mdina

From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.

Arriving by plane

MLA
Malta InternationalValletta · Birgu · Mdina · Rabat

Getting around Mdina

Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.

On the map

Route ↗
Hidden story

The gate that moved

Mdina's grand Main Gate is not where the old gate was.

Read the storyClose

In 1724 Grandmaster Manoel de Vilhena rebuilt the entrance of Mdina in baroque style and moved it a few metres. Look at the wall to the right of today's gate: you can still see the outline of the old, bricked-up medieval gate.