Malta
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Malta - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Malta - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
The Rotunda (Church of St. Mary) has one of the biggest domes in Europe—after St. Peter's in Rome and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul—and took 27 years to build. Towering above the center of Mosta, a town with a population of less than 20,000, it's a striking sight. Remarkably, a German bomb fell through the roof during World War II while the town held mass; it failed to detonate, sparing the lives of 300 people.
Completed in late 2018, Malta's largest art museum lies within the UNESCO-listed Auberge d'Italie, a stately 16th-century building that once housed Italian members of the Knights of St. John before becoming Valletta's first public museum in 1920, though until World War II the museum saw its collection scattered. MUŻA now houses some 20,000 works of art, flying the flag for Maltese and Mediterranean artists dating back to the 17th century, including local sculptor Antonio Sciortino An audiovisual installation delves into his never-completed monument, The Unknown Soldier.
The museum is housed in the Auberge de Provence (the hostel of the Knights from Provence). The building's Gran Salon alone is as breathtaking an example of the Baroque style as you'll see in Malta outside of the Co-Cathedral, though its intricate painted walls are undergoing major restoration. The museum has an excellent collection of finds from Malta's many prehistoric sites—Tarxien, Haġar Qim, and the Hypogeum at Paola. The intricately carved figurine of the Sleeping Lady, found at the Hypogeum, dates back almost 5,000 years. You'll also find information on the ancient "cart ruts" that you'll see in the northwest, not far from Rabat.
Mdina's medieval Patrician stone mansion dates from between the 13th and 15th centuries and reveals a wealth of original architectural features. The mansion's rooms display more than 45 collections of silver, furniture, jewelry, armour, paintings, and more, including art works by Anthony Van Dyck, Nicolas Poussin, and Mattia Preti. There is a free audio guide.
This sprawling palazzo aspires to be a kind of mini Palace of Versailles, with its mirrored ballroom and Italian-style garden. Indeed, taking tea in its walled courtyard feels like the height of civilization as the church bells peal in the distance. The site is run by Christiane Ramsay Scicluna, descendent of the Marquis Guiseppe Scicluna, who set about transforming this building with neoclassical zeal into a grand winter palace when he bought it in 1898. It feels totally out of place in the quiet little town of Naxxar, yet all the more fascinating for it.
Gozo's widest beach has fine ocher-color sand interspersed with areas of pebbles and boulders. The water conditions are good for children and nonswimmers. It's calm with an easy entrance into the sea and a wide stretch of shallow water. There are stones underfoot in the shallows, so beach shoes are a good idea. There's no natural shade but a concession rents sun umbrellas. The beach is especially busy on summer weekends when local families spend the day. Best for: swimming. Amenities: food and drink (summer only); lifeguards (summer only); parking (no fee).
Xewkija's church is the biggest on Gozo, and reputedly has the one of the largest unsupported domes in the world—not bad for what has always been the poorest village on Gozo. It is said to weigh some 45,000 tons, and construction began in 1951 around the original village church, so locals would still have a place to worship. It wouldn't be consecrated until 1978, and parts of the old church still exist within, dismantled and rebuilt in a rear chamber. There is a fantastic photo display showing how the rotunda was built and just how daring it was (note the complete absence of safety equipment), while its marble floor and paintings are among the finest on Gozo. For just €3, you can go up in a lift to the rooftop to gaze out across the land—it's the best viewpoint on the island.
Offers PADI courses ranging from beginner to technical, and has a comprehensive list of dive sites that it visits around the islands of Gozo and Comino.
Mdina's St. Paul's Cathedral is famed for Mattia Preti's intricate 17th-century apse mural The Shipwreck of St. Paul. It along with the 900-year-old Irish bogwood sacristy doors were among the few surviving relics of the 1693 earthquake, which destroyed the Norman-era church that stood previously on this site. Rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1703, its interior is second only in Malta to Valletta's Co-Cathedral in terms of grandeur, its floor similarly lined with the marble tombstones of Maltese nobles. Across the square lies the CathedralMuseum, set inside a former seminary. It is home to an excellent art collection, the highlight of which are a series of Dürer woodcuts and illuminated manuscripts.
St. Paul's Island, off the coast of Mistra, is the alleged site of the shipwreck of the eponymous apostle in Malta. He is said to have introduced Christianity to the islands, so is universally revered in all manner of sites across Malta. These days, barring a statue of the saint himself, there is little to see on these two barren specks of land joined by a narrow isthmus. The adventure is in getting here, either by boat or kayak, to escape the bustle of the resorts and Jet skis that infest St. Paul's Bay, to explore caves used as bomb shelters, and to snorkel hidden waters.
The importance of St. Paul to the Maltese explains the work lavished on this Baroque marvel, with its raised central vault, oval dome, and marble columns. The os brachii (arm bone) relic of the saint is housed in a chapel on the right, a splendid gated chapel is on the left, and a baptismal font stands by the entrance.
An interesting companion to the nearby Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, the four interconnecting Tarxien Temples have curious carvings, oracular chambers, and altars, all dating from about 2800 BC. Recovered stone figures of the broad-hipped fertility goddess, now lying in Valletta's National Archeology Museum, indicate it was dedicated to the Earth Mother. An audio guide accessed via a downloadable app (iOS/Android) narrates the history of the site and shows images of artifacts now covered for their protection.
Before they were famed for their military exploits, the Knights of St. John were a medical order, set up by Pope Gregory in 603 AD to care for sick and injured pilgrims arriving in the Holy Land. When they opened La Sacra Infermeria (The Holy Infirmary) in Valletta in 1574, it was one of the most revolutionary in Europe, with amazing results partly due to the Knights' predilection for serving food on silver plates—the metal has antibacterial qualities, which weren't understood at the time; the knights just found them easier to clean. This building (now a conference center) is the setting for the 45-minute Malta Experience, a multimedia presentation on the history of the islands that is given here daily on the hour. It spans 7,000 years, all the way from early settlers and the Great Siege of the Knights to World War II, and concludes with a tour of the building itself, offering a more tangible glimpse of the history that unfolds on the screen.
Here, knights once honed their fencing skills under a covered loggia (now open to the sky). Today, a troupe of stray cats and some greenery occupy this lofty lookout offering the best uninterrupted views of Grand Harbour and the Three Cities across the water. A cannon is fired at noon, daily, at the Saluting Battery following a practice that, from the 1820s on, served to help Ship Masters calibrate their onboard chronographers, which were used to help navigate. Once you've soaked up the views, take the elevator 165 feet down to the harbor below.
A pair of UNESCO-listed megalithic sites that predate even the U.K.'s Stonehenge, the 4,800-year-old Ħaġar Qim ("ha-jar eem") gives a clear picture of the massive scale of Malta's ancient limestone temples. Along the external wall you'll find the largest megaliths, some weighing close to 20 tons. The altars are well preserved, though some are reproductions. Just a short walk away lies Mnajdra, a series of three temples encircled by hard coralline limestone walls. Built between 3600 BC and 2500 BC, what survives is thought to be the remains of a much larger complex. Visitor centers for both sites offer as many answers as fascinating mysteries about their use.
Carved under the town of Paola, a few minutes drive to the west of Cospicua, this massive labyrinth of underground chambers was used as a subterranean necropolis and funeral hall, dating from around 4,000 BC, and remains the only one of its kind in Europe. It reopened in 2017 following a year-long restoration (even the carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors can damage its walls), adding an audiovisual show that outlines its history. Many chambers are decorated with red ocher or fine carvings, including the Oracle Room which was cleverly shaped to amplify sound. Because of its delicate state, only 10 visitors per hour, for a maximum of eight hours a day, are allowed inside. Book tickets for tours at least a month in advance.
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