The Old Prison served as a jail from the late 1500s to 1904, and proved particularly useful for locking up hot-tempered Knights until they cooled off. The cells here once held Jean Parisot de la Valette for a few months for beating up a layperson. His punishment included two years service in Tripoli before he later became Grand Master. Particularly fascinating is the historic graffiti etched into the walls by the inmates, including crosses, ships, hands and the cross of the Knights.
Old Prison
Victoria (Rabat)
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
18.43 MILES
St John's Co-Cathedral, Malta's most impressive church, was designed by the architect Gerolamo Cassar. It was built between 1573 and 1578, taking over…
19.33 MILES
The Hypogeum (from the Greek, meaning 'underground') is a subterranean necropolis, discovered during building work in 1902. To visit is to step into a…
18.92 MILES
The megalithic temples of Ħaġar Qim (adge-ar eem; 'standing stones') and Mnajdra (mm-nigh-dra) are the best preserved and most evocative of Malta's…
18.46 MILES
The stern exterior of the 16th-century Grand Master's Palace conceals a sumptuous interior. This was once the residence of the Grand Masters of the…
21.71 MILES
The reason to head to Birżebbuġa is to see the Għar Dalam Cave & Museum, 500m north on the main road from Valletta. Għar Dalam (aar-da-lam; the name means…
National Museum of Archaeology
18.37 MILES
The National Museum of Archaeology is housed in the impressive Auberge de Provence. Exhibits include delicate stone tools dating from 5200 BC, Phoenician…
14.38 MILES
The cathedral is said to be built on the site of the villa belonging to Publius, the Roman governor of Malta who welcomed St Paul in AD 60.
1.68 MILES
Perched on the crest of the hill to the south of Xagħra, the awe-inspiring megalithic Ġgantija Temples command soaring views over most of southern Gozo…
Nearby Victoria (Rabat) attractions
0.03 MILES
While the walls surrounding Il-Kastell date from the 15th century, there have been fortifications atop this flat-topped hill since the Bronze Age: it…
0.03 MILES
Note the Roman inscription on the left-hand inner wall from the 2nd century AD.
0.03 MILES
This gracious old building houses a series of low-key exhibits explaining the geology of the island and its water supply. There are some interesting…
4. Ċittadella Visitors' Centre
0.04 MILES
Inaugurated in mid-2016 as part of the excellent restoration of Victoria's Il-Kastell, this award-winning visitors' centre includes a poignant and…
0.04 MILES
Victoria's Archaeology Museum houses some incredible finds. There are some 'fat lady' carvings from Ġgantija Temples and Xagħra, around 3000 to 4000 years…
6. Gran Castello Historic House
0.04 MILES
This folklore museum is a lovely maze of stairs, rooms and courtyards. The fine, rambling old building itself, dating to 1500, houses a collection of…
7. Cathedral of the Assumption
0.04 MILES
Built between 1697 and 1711 to replace a church destroyed by a 1693 earthquake (which was in southern Italy but caused damage as far Gozo), the cathedral…
0.05 MILES
Renaissance chapel originally dedicated to St Nicholas. It was built in 1625 on the site of another more simple chapel already dedicated to the saint.