![]() ![]() Inside is one of the most dazzling Baroque interiors anywhere in Europe. Upstairs are accessible galleries covering the Bronze Age and Phoenician eras.Ī little further along Republic Street is the Knights’ church, St John's Co-Cathedral. Here you will find the extraordinary 5,000-years-old 'Fat Ladies of Malta', and other statues, reliefs and stone furniture from the unique Maltese Temple culture. Let’s get behind the walls of some of those Valletta buildings – starting with the historic home of the Provencal Knights of Malta, now the National Museum of Archaeology. Back on the waterfront, visit Fort St Angelo – which spans more than 800 years of Maltese history – before motoring back across the harbour (this time without the tour) in another dghajsa. ![]() From here wander through the Collachio, the Knights' own area, which was once out of bounds for women and is still a very traditional district. Stop in the square for a coffee at St Lawrence Band Club – where, as in each Maltese parish, the local band meets in preparation for the annual festa. The Knights' first base in Malta, this medieval mini-city is a gorgeous place for a spot of loafing. You'll putter beneath the towering bastions of Valletta, past the shipyards, and in and out of the creeks of the Three Cities – before rounding the corner beneath the freshly cleaned face of Malta’s oldest fortress, Fort St Angelo, to disembark in Birgu/Vittoriosa. Grab a coffee and pastry at the Upper Barrakka kiosk (you'll want to leave plenty of room for supper) before taking the Barrakka Lift down to Customs House and hopping into a traditional Maltese dghajsa – a six-seater brightly painted wooden boat – for a tour of the Grand Harbour. And of course, it’s only a short ride to the beach. There’s also the City Gate redevelopment, designed by star architect Renzo Piano (of London's Shard fame) including an ultra-modern parliament building and an open-air theatre inside the bombed-out shell of the Neoclassical opera house.īuzzing bars spill out onto the city’s limestone alleys, concerts frequently grace its copious churches, and the restaurant scene serves up everything from scrumptious traditional snacks to Michelin starred menus. Valletta has an extraordinary density of sights and activities from 5,000-year-old 'Fat Lady' statues, to the ornate Baroque legacy of the Knights of St John from Bastion-top gardens to boat trips on the Grand Harbour. A Unesco World Heritage site steeped in history, Valletta has recently undergone a 21st-century revitalisation with lots of new boutique hotels, restaurants and restoration and renovation of historic sites and museums. ![]() New signs appeared alongside the vintage 1920s shopfronts that give Valletta its character, and small boutique hotels are being cleverly integrated into 17th-century townhouses.The Maltese capital, surrounded by sea and 16th-century bastion walls, has an enduring charm all of its own. As nearby St Julian’s developed into a shiny, high-rise hub of bars and clubs, people started moving back to Valletta – to open cafés, cocktail joints and inventive restaurants for fresh twists on Maltese ingredients. And the island is also a favourite on the LGBT scene, with Pride taking place every September. Then Malta began snapping its fingers to a new-wave of music festivals, from Isle of MTV with its annual free concert featuring international chart-toppers to Annie Mac’s hands-in-the-air Lost & Found, which holds parties in pools, boats and castles around the island. Recently, however, its capital, Valletta, has shaken itself awake and is redefining itself as a credible, year-round European city-break destination, with a fresh creative spirit attracting a youthful, switched-on crowd.Īround a decade ago, Valletta was a museum city, its beautiful honey-stone buildings, domes and spires and twisty-turny old-town streets photographed by day-trippers during the day, yet deserted at night the baroque statues left to talk amongst themselves. It’s long been a destination for heat-seekers, thanks to its climate clocking up more than 300 days of sunshine a year – and it can easily be T-shirt weather even in November or March, making it a smart choice for half-term escapes or winter sun holidays. Parts of its landscape are reminiscent of Istanbul, or Venice, or Greece – and it’s played all three on screen, thanks to the number of films shot on location here. It has the beaches and the lagoons for swimming, clifftops and herb-scented hillsides for walking, a dramatic history with battle-scarred landmarks and Renaissance classics, and a breezy, easy-going attitude to life. In many ways, Malta is the Mediterranean in capsule form. ![]()
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