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A city built by knights in fifteen years – and Europe's smallest capital.
8 museumsValletta fits on one rocky peninsula: straight streets, honey-coloured palaces and the sea at the end of every road.
After the Great Siege of 1565, Grandmaster Jean de Valette laid the first stone of a new city that could never be taken again. Its streets were drawn in a grid so the sea wind could cool them, and the knights built their auberges, hospitals and St John's Co-Cathedral within a few years. Today the whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Go early to St John's, then to MUŻA for Maltese art, to the Grandmaster's Palace for the armoury and to Fort St Elmo for the National War Museum. Have pastizzi and a Kinnie on a step, or a ftira from a small bar, and watch the noon gun from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. On summer nights Valletta's own festas and the Notte Bianca in autumn fill the streets with music; at Carnival, in late winter, floats roll down Republic Street.
The big moments, and where to see them today.
Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John and a floor of marble knights' tombs.
Malta's national art museum in the Auberge d'Italie.
At Fort St Elmo, from the Great Siege to the George Cross.
State rooms and one of the world's great collections of armour.
A noble family's home with a wartime shelter under the house.
From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.
Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.
From the temples of Malta to the Wall in Berlin: Europe is one big cultural family. One site to plan your museum days, in your language.
