Things to do in Valletta
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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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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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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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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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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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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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The Pub
Fans of the late British actor Oliver Reed might want to raise a glass to their hero in this succinctly named watering hole. This is the homely little hostelry where the wild man of British film enjoyed his final drinking session before last orders were called forever in 1999. It’s a tiny, tucked-away place, but worth visiting for the memorabilia on the walls and to read of Reed’s heavy drinking visits during the filming of Gladiator.
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Manoel Theatre
The 600-seat Manoel Theatre, Malta’s national theatre, was built in 1731 and is one of the oldest theatres in Europe. Take an entertaining guided tour (conducted in English, French, Italian and German) to see the restored baroque auditorium with its gilt boxes and huge chandelier. Tours begin at 10.30am, 11.30am and 2.30pm Monday to Friday, and 1.30pm Saturday. Tickets cost €4 and include admission to the theatre’s small museum.
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This trendy wine bar is one of Valletta’s talking points, combining striking modern architecture and design with a setting that is half in, half out of a vast vaulted cavern in St Andrew’s Bastion – the outdoor terrace with designer waterfall has a view across the harbour to Sliema. The list of wines ranges from Malta to the New World, the cocktails are professionally prepared, and there’s a tempting dinner menu, too.
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Fumia
Widely acknowledged as one of Malta’s best seafood restaurants, Fumia is tucked away in an atmospheric vaulted dining room in the basement of the Manoel Theatre. Classic Sicilian dishes include an antipasto of mixed marinated seafood, fresh fish baked al sale (in a salted dough crust), and lobster and squid ink ravioli. Dress code is smart casual or jacket and tie, so it’s a bit more formal than most other places.
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La Cave
In a 400-year-old cellar beneath Castille Hotel, this busy restaurant churns out crunchy pizzas big enough for two – the pizza Maltija is topped with goat’s cheese, olives and Maltese sausage. There’s also a good assortment of pasta dishes (and a few salad options best avoided), and you can wash your food down with a selection of local wine – you might need more than one bottle though, as service can be slow.
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Great Siege of Malta & the Knights of St John
One heavily promoted exhibition is the Great Siege of Malta & the Knights of St John, beside the entry to the Bibliotheca. It advertises a ‘state-of-the-art 3D walk-through adventure’ but quite frankly doesn’t live up to the hype. For the steep admission fee you get a 45-minute, sometimes-tedious self-guided audio tour through re-creations of battle scenes from the 1565 siege.
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Castille Wine Vaults
It’s a shame about the limited opening hours of this fabulously situated cafe-bar. It’s underneath the stock exchange building, accessed by walking down some steps and along a long low-lit passageway. In the dining area you can snack on panini and platters of Maltese delicacies, cheese, seafood or dips, plus learn about and sample some very good local drops of wine (€8 for four wines).
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Blue Room
Recently renovated in a tasteful blend of oriental and modern decor, the Blue Room scores points for polished service and well- prepared Chinese food – this is one of very few places in the capital not offering pizza and/or pasta. There are vegetable and rice/noodle dishes at the lower end of the price scale, plus aromatic crispy duck, seafood and sizzling hotplates if you want to lash out.
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