The Best Sight in Valletta, Malta

Background Illustration for Sights

The main entrance to town is through the City Gate (where all bus routes end), which leads onto Triq Repubblika (Republic Street), the spine of the grid-pattern city and the main shopping street. Triq Mercante (Merchant Street) parallels Repubblika to the east and is also good for strolling. From these two streets, cross streets descend toward the water; some are stepped. Valletta's compactness makes it ideal to explore on foot. City Gate and the upper part of Valletta are experiencing vast redevelopment that includes a new Parliament Building and open-air performance venue. The complex, completed mid-2013, has numerous pedestrian detours in place along with building noise and dust. Before setting out along Republic Street, stop at the tourist information office on Merchant Street for maps and brochures.

Mysterium Fidei Monastery

The story of St Catherine's Monastery dates back to 1575 when it began as a home for orphaned girls. Its "control rooms," where women considered a threat to the morality of the time were taken, hint at darker stories that go unmentioned, but what is touched on here is mostly the day-to-day lives of the girls and the work they did. The monastery opened its underground complex to visitors for the first time in 2023, and it is still occupied by three nuns, whose living area is off-limits. The site includes a burial chamber, as once entering the monastery, the nuns made a vow never to leave its walls again, even in death—many of their bones still lie in state. Far less gruesome is the monastery's charming courtyard garden, home to terrapins, coy carp, and dozing cats.