Things to do in Malta
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St John’s Co-Cathedral
Malta’s most impressive church, St John’s Co-Cathedral was designed by the architect Gerolamo Cassar. It was built between 1573 and 1578 as the conventual church of the Knights of St John. It took over from the Church of St Lawrence in Vittoriosa as the place where the Knights would gather for communal worship. It was raised to a status equal to that of St Paul’s Cathedral in Mdina – the official seat of the Archbishop of Malta – by a papal decree of 1816, hence the term ‘co-cathedral’.
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Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is an incredible underground necropolis, discovered during building work in 1902. It consists of halls, chambers and passages hewn out of the living rock and covering some 500 sq metres; it is thought to date from around 3600 to 3000 BC, and an estimated 7000 bodies may have been interred here. Excellent 50-minute tours of the complex are available daily at 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. Note that the tours aren’t suitable for children aged under six.
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Fusion Four
For us, this stylish, well-hidden restaurant is the culinary highlight of the capital. It houses a small bar, funky furnishings, a dining room under vaulted ceilings and a perfect, private courtyard. Icing on the cake is a small but innovative menu of fusion dishes such as mussels with lemongrass, white wine and parsley, ravioli of rabbit in a parmesan cream sauce or crisp pancetta-wrapped pork fillet on a bed of apples. Finish with a delectable white chocolate and honeycomb mousse.
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Malta Experience
The Malta Experience is a somewhat pricey 45-minute audiovisual presentation that provides a good introduction to Malta, especially for first-time visitors. The film is available in 13 languages; it showcases the country’s long history and highlights many of its scenic attractions. Screenings begin on the hour from 11am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and from 11am to 1pm on weekends and public holidays (with an extra 2pm show from October till June).
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La Sicilia
You’re sure to find something to fill a rumbling tum at this tiny, unpretentious eatery, which spills out onto a little sun-trap of a square. There are lots of hearty Italian pasta dishes (under €8), grilled meats and fish, plus burgers, omelettes and salads. The setting is lovely and the prices are easy on the wallet.
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Casa Rocca Piccola
The 16th-century palazzo Casa Rocca Piccola is the elegant family home of the Marquis de Piro. The marquis has opened part of the palazzo to the public and guided tours on the hour (10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday) give a unique insight into the privileged lifestyle of the aristocracy.
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State Apartments
From the public entry to the Grand Master's Palace on Triq il-Merkanti it's possible to visit the State Apartments; note that the apartments are closed from time to time when official state visits are taking place. Heritage Malta conducts guided tours (included in the cost of admission) of the apartments at 10:30, 12:30 and 14:30 daily; tours and times are not set in stone, so it may be worth making advance enquiries.
A staircase past the Armoury entrance provides access to the State Apartments. Only a few rooms are open to the public, depending on what is currently being used. The long Armoury Corridor, decorated with trompe l'oeil painting, scenes of naval battles, blue…
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Armoury
From the public entry to the Grand Master's Palace on Triq il-Merkanti it's possible to visit the Armoury (and the State Apartments). Heritage Malta conducts guided tours (included in the cost of admission) of the Armoury daily; tours and times are not set in stone, so it may be worth making advance enquiries.
The Armoury is now housed in what was once the Grand Master's stables. The armour and weapons belonging to the Knights were once stored at the Palace Armoury (now the Great Hall used by the parliament), and when a Knight died they became the property of the Order. The current collection of over 5000 suits of 16th- to 18th-century armour is all that remains of an ori…
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Fort St Elmo
At the furthest point of Valletta and guarding the entrance to both Marsamxett and Grand Harbours is Fort St Elmo, named after the patron saint of mariners. Although now much altered and extended, this was the fort that bore the brunt of Turkish arms during the Great Siege of 1565. It was built by the Knights in 1552 to guard the entrances to the harbours on either side of the Sceberras Peninsula. The courtyard outside the entrance to the fort is studded with the lids of underground granaries.
Today Fort St Elmo is home to the Malta police academy and is open to the public only for historical reenactments, held at 11:00 on most Sunday mornings except during the peak summe…
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Captain Morgan Cruises
Captain Morgan Cruises is the biggest tour operator in the Maltese Islands and offers a wide range of boat excursions. There’s a popular tour of Grand Harbour, which departs five or six times daily from March to October and costs €16/13 per adult/child. There is also an all-day cruise around Malta and Comino (six times a week from May to October, three times a week in March, April and November), which will set you back €40/26 per adult/child (buffet lunch included). Other options include day trips to the Blue Lagoon on Comino (from adult/child €20/15), a sunset cruise (adult/child €50/25 including buffet dinner), or a full day sailing on a catamaran (adult/child €56/35 in…
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Lascaris War Rooms
WWII history boffins should make time to visit the Lascaris War Rooms. These chambers, hewn out of the solid rock beneath Lascaris Bastion, housed the headquarters of the Allied air and naval forces during WWII, and were used as the control centre for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.
The rooms are a little tricky to find. Your best option is to walk south from Pjazza Kastilja along Triq Girolamo Cassar and look for the path on the right (signposted) that leads down into the Great Ditch beneath St James' Bastion and doubles back under the road to the entry. Once inside, you take a self-guided audio tour through the operations rooms. You'll need to us…
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Fort Rinella
Built by the British in the late 19th century, Fort Rinella, 1.5km northeast of Vittoriosa, was one of two coastal batteries designed to counter the threat of Italy’s new ironclad battleships. The batteries (the second one was on Tigné Point in Sliema) were equipped with the latest Armstrong 100-tonne guns – the biggest muzzle-loading guns ever made. Their 100-tonne shells had a range of 6.4km and could penetrate 38cm of armour plating. The guns were never fired in anger, and were retired in 1906. Fort Rinella has been restored by a group of amateur enthusiasts from the Malta Heritage Trust and is now one of Malta’s most interesting military museums. Guided tours giv…
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Malta Aviation Museum
Tucked away in an unassuming shed between Ta’Qali Crafts Village and the National Stadium is the remarkable Malta Aviation Museum, 2km northeast of Mdina. It’s a real enthusiast’s museum, with bits of engines, airframes and instruments lying around, and numerous restoration projects under way – including a Fairey Swordfish and a De Havilland Tiger Moth. You can watch locals working on the aircraft and other exhibits. Stars of the show here are a WWII Spitfire Mk IX and a Hawker Hurricane IIa, salvaged in 1995 after 54 years at the bottom of the sea off Malta’s southwest coast; other aircraft on display include a vintage Flying Flea, a De Havilland Vampire T11, a Fiat G9…
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Tarxien Temples
The Tarxien Temples, pronounced tar-sheen, are hidden up a back street several blocks east of the Hypogeum – keep your eyes peeled, as the entrance is inconspicuous. These megalithic structures were excavated in 1914 and are thought to date from between 3600 and 2500 BC; they are probably the most interesting and accessible of all Malta’s ancient temples. There are four linked structures, built with massive stone blocks up to 3m by 1m by 1m in size, decorated with spiral patterns and pitting, and reliefs of animals including bulls, goats and pigs. The large statue of a broad-hipped female figure was found in the right-hand niche of the first temple. This is another herita…
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Cathedral Museum
The first bay in the south aisle of St John’s gives access to the Cathedral Museum. The first room is the Oratory, built in 1603 as a place of worship and for the instruction of novices. It is dominated by the altarpiece, The Beheading of St John the Baptist (c 1608) by Caravaggio, one of the artist’s most famous and accomplished paintings. The executioner – reaching for a knife to finish off the job that his sword began – and Salome with her platter are depicted with chilling realism (note that the artist signed his name in the blood seeping from St John’s severed neck). On the east wall hangs St Jerome, another of Caravaggio’s masterpieces.
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San Anton Palace & Gardens
The San Anton Palace & Gardens lies between Attard and Lija. The palace was built in the early 17th century as the country mansion of Grand Master Antoine de Paule. It later served as the official residence of the British Governor of Malta, and is now the official residence of the Maltese president. You can cop a lungful of cleanish air inside the lovely walled gardens that stretch between the palace and the main entrance on Triq Birkirkara; they contain groves of citrus and avocado, as well as a bird aviary. The Eagle Fountain, just inside the main gate, dates from the 1620s. The Mask Fountain is surrounded by unusual floss-silk trees with thick, thorn-studded trunks and…
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National War Museum
Commemorating the country’s ordeal during WWII, Malta’s National War Museum is housed in the northwest corner of Fort St Elmo. The collection of relics, photographs and equipment includes the Gloster Gladiator biplane called Faith (minus wings), the jeep Husky used by General Eisenhower, and the wreckage of a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter aircraft recovered from the seabed. The pictures of bomb damage in Valletta give some idea of the amount of rebuilding that was needed after the war. Pride of place goes to the replica George Cross medal that was awarded to the entire population of Malta in 1942.
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Caffe Cordina
There’s some prime people-watching on Misraħ ir-Repubblika, where several cafes command the ranks of tables around the statue of Queen Victoria. The oldest (and busiest) option is Caffe Cordina, established in 1837 and now a local institution. You have the choice of waiter service at the tables in the square or inside, or joining the locals at the zinc counter inside for a quick caffeine hit. And be sure to look up; the ceiling is exquisitely painted. Excellent for savoury pastries and decadent sweets, and there’s a gelati counter out front.
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Gianpula
The Ibiza-styled Gianpula, a few kilometres east of Rabat (signposted en route to Żebbuġ), is a huge open-air club that kicked off in 1980 and is still going strong. It hosts big-name events showcasing top international DJs, as well as tours from megaclubs such as Cream, Godskitchen and Ministry of Sound. As well as staging these one-off nights and the odd music festival, Gianpula is open every Friday and Saturday night from June to September. Join up to 4000 others in a huge field complete with swimming pool and seven bars.
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Bobbyland Restaurant
Heading northwest along the cliffs you’ll find Bobbyland Restaurant, where you can chow down with the locals before walking off your meal with a postprandial cliff-top stroll. This friendly, rustic place is 500m from the Dingli junction; on Sundays in particular the indoor and outdoor tables are crowded with diners munching contentedly on house specialities like rabbit pan-fried in garlic, onions and herbs, or roast fillet of lamb, wrapped in puff pastry and served with garlic and rosemary sauce. Vegetarians will struggle here.
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Royal Opera House
On the main street, Triq ir-Repubblika you'll pass the cracked steps and shattered column stumps of the ruined Royal Opera House. This once imperious building was built in the 1860s, but was destroyed during a German air raid in 1942. Its gutted shell has been left as a reminder of the war and is rather unceremoniously used as a car park while controversy rages as to what should be done with the site. The most recent proposal is to transform the ruins into a permanent open-air performance space.
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St James’ Cavalier Centre for Creativity
The St James’ Cavalier has undergone a remarkable transformation from a 16th-century fortification into a bright, modern arts centre. Inside the St James’ Cavalier Centre for Creativity are a couple of exhibition spaces (with a bias towards the contemporary art scene), a theatre-in-the-round where live music and theatre performances are held and a cinema showing arthouse films. It’s worth stopping in to check out the interesting interior and to grab a programme of what’s on.
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Saluting Battery
The Saluting Battery, where a cannon once fired salutes to visiting naval vessels. The battery has been restored, and a cannon is fired every day at noon. The guided tours show how the cannon is loaded and fired, and there are displays on the history of time-keeping and signalling. (The gardens, the battery and a whole network of tunnels within the St Peter and Paul Bastion are being restored to house a museum and other displays; it should be open to the public in 2011.)
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Rubino
Rubino earns rave reviews for reinventing Maltese cuisine while staying true to its roots. There’s no menu, just a selection of the day’s dishes depending on seasonal produce and local tradition. Leave room for dessert – the house speciality, cassata siciliana (sponge cake soaked in liqueur, layered with ricotta cheese), is particularly recommended. Tuesday night is fenkata (a communal meal of rabbit) night, for which bookings are advised.
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Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck
The moody Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck dates from the 16th century and houses many treasures, including a dazzling gilded statue of St Paul, carved in Rome in the 1650s and carried shoulder-high through the streets of Valletta on the saint’s feast day (10 February). There’s also a golden reliquary containing some bones from the saint’s wrist, and part of the column on which he is said to have been beheaded in Rome.
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