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Mdina & Rabat | Valletta & Birgu | gozo | wine dine & stay

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Discovering Malta

The day I’m scheduled to visit Gozo happens to be a public holiday in Malta. My guide Dominic and I arrive at the Fast Ferry terminal down by the Valletta waterfront, where he bumps into his cousin. She’s off to see friends in Gozo. This is typical for locals to decamp to Gozo—the smaller, more rural and relaxed sister island—for the day. On long weekends, they may even rent a farmhouse. The Fast Ferry takes 45 minutes from the Grand Harbour in Valletta to Mgarr Harbour on Gozo. On our way, we pass Comino, Malta’s third inhabited island—there’s just one family on Comino, with the rest of the small island (about 3.5 sqkm) taken over by nature. One of Comino’s great tourist attractions is the Blue Lagoon. I get a spectacular panoramic view of the crystal-clear waters from a high vantage point on Gozo. It’s a 24-degree day and the yachts full of swimmers and sunbathers are out in full force.

Malta

I hop on the Fast Ferry

Game of Thrones fans would recognise it

Calypso's Cave and the Blue Hole

After a few days spent exploring the archipelago nation of Malta, it hit me. These are actual treasure islands. For a country that is, in total, about a quarter of the size of London or New York, it holds an astonishing number of hidden and not-so-hidden gems. Perhaps it's down to the mix of cultures who have called Malta home at various points in history, from antiquity to present day: There were the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the French, the British, and an Order of Knights hailing from Jerusalem. Malta does sit at a strategic point in the Mediterranean, just a few clicks south of Sicily, east of Tunisia. But it’s not just history—and its three UNESCO World Heritage Sites—that make Malta a rich experience. It also offers beaches, swimming and dive sites, unique Mediterranean cuisine that has won it Michelin stars, plenty of arts and culture, and characterful hotels to rest one’s head in. Even if you don’t know it, you’ve glimpsed Malta on your TV screen. Game Of Thrones, Gladiator, Troy, Assassin’s Creed and World War Z are just some of the films and hit shows shot here. And with Gladiator 2 returning to film here this year, now seemed as good a time as any to go on a treasure hunt to discover the real Malta.

The Blue Hole used to neighbour another famous natural rock formation, the frame-like Azure Window. (Game Of Thrones fans would recognize it as the backdrop for Daenerys Targaryen’s wedding to Khal Drogo.) The Window collapsed into the sea from natural causes in 2017, but divers can still explore its remains, just below the surface. While in the area, the Inland Sea is worth a look-see. It’s a beautiful day, so when we arrive, we find families swimming in the protected lagoon, and friends gathered at the small bar-cafés fashioned out of old fisherman’s boat houses. One of those cafés has a photograph of Dominic’s brother, during a mission in 1984 to rescue two dolphins who mistakenly wandered into the lagoon and couldn’t get back out to sea on their own.

On the other side of the bay from Mixta Cave is Calypso’s Cave, where in Homer’s Odyssey, the nymph is said to have held the hero Odysseus prisoner for seven years. Renowned oceanographer, filmmaker, author and inventor Jacques Cousteau famously owned a boat from where he conducted much of his research called Calypso. Speaking of Cousteau, he once claimed the Blue Hole off Gozo’s west coast to be among his favourite scuba diving spots in the world. I sadly didn’t have enough time to go below the surface myself, but standing on the cliffs above it, it was clear where it got its name. The Blue Hole is nestled within a natural limestone rock formation that gives it the shape of an upright tube. Divers can enter the water here, seemingly contained within this rock circle, but a few metres down they’ll find an archway leading out to open sea.

Mdina & Rabat

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Valletta & Birgu

Gozo

While many of Gozo’s attractions lie along its coasts, one of its most important sites is further inland. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ġgantija is a prehistoric temple complex dating back to circa 3600 BC. That’s older than Stonehenge, older than the Pyramids. The name Ġgantija is a reference to giants, because early Gozitans believed it was built by a race of giants. Standing in front of the megalithic complex, it’s easy to see why you’d believe that. Some of the limestone boulders weigh over 50 tonnes. The effort it would have taken to build this with the tools available then is gigantic, even if the people who built it weren’t. The temples were built to worship the goddess of fertility. Inside, there are rudimentary altars, and animal bones were discovered there, suggesting a ritual of sacrifice. Wandering through the two temples, I feel humbled, as I often do when encountering truly ancient history. It reminds me that I’m a drop in the ocean of time.

A land of giants

You can also take a boat through a cavernous tunnel out to the open sea. We decide spontaneously to do this, and I’m thrilled we do. We navigate through the narrow tunnel out to sea and the views of the cliffs are spectacular. Even more fascinating are the little caves we motor into, with bright orange coral along the edges of the walls and water a mesmerizingly azure blue. Our boatman takes us near the Blue Hole, pointing out a couple of other interesting rock formations looming out of the sea, one in the shape of a crocodile, the other, much larger at about 200 feet tall: Fungus Rock. An unattractive name but an interesting story. Fungus Rock earned its moniker for the medicinal mushrooms that grew atop it. These mushrooms were considered so valuable that the Knights of St John formally protected the rock and banned any visitors. They even scraped the sides of the rock so no one could climb it.

I motor through the caves

One worth visiting is the L-Għar tal-Mixta (Mixta Cave), reached by an easy five-minute walk from the country road where cars have to stop. Sitting high above Ramla Bay, the cave serves as a frame for one of the most picture-perfect views: Green shrubbery covered hills peppered with yellow-limestone villages, leading down to the arching bay and its many shades of blue, fringed by the red sands of Ramla Beach below. Ramla l-Ħamra means “red sand” in Maltese. The beach bearing that name is one of Gozo’s most famed. You can rent a sunbed and an umbrella, and there are snack bars and other convenient facilities for beach-goers. Even here, where people are more preoccupied with earthly pleasures such as getting the right amount of tan, there is a statue of St Mary watching over the beach. This idea of the holy and the profane coexisting is also celebrated in the many “festas” Malta celebrates. These feasts, are held in honour of saints, yet resemble a particularly festive street party in towns across Malta.

Gozo has several beautiful viewpoints

The Ottomans attempted to conquer Malta in 1565, but after a four-month siege were repelled by the Knights and their foot soldiers. The siege was the impetus for the building of Valletta. You can still see original sections of the fortress walls. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano has interpreted those centuries-old walls to create a new parliament building. The modern-minimalist buildings pay homage to the past. The rest of Valletta conforms more to the Baroque style of the period. Buildings are yellow-ochre limestone, and the covered balconies protrude colourfully out from the facades. Malta’s style of balcony is a cousin of the Islamic mashrabiya style; an unsurprising influence, given the 200-plus-year Arab rule in Malta, from approximately 870 to 1091 AD. With influences from Italy, the Middle East and Great Britain, it’s a true melting pot of cultures.

Malta is a melting pot of cultures

I get a sense of the many cultures that played a part in being Maltese when visiting Casa Rocca Piccola, a 16th-century palazzo built for a knight, now part museum, part 5-room B&B and part ancestral home of the 9th Marquis de Piro and his family. I’m shown around by none other than the Marquis himself, Nicholas de Piro, and it’s delightful because he’s a master storyteller (and the author of a few books, including one about Maltese lace which we flip through together). The palazzo is characterful, portraits cover the walls, objets d’art line shelves and cabinets. We examine original handmade furniture, peer into bookshelves. In another room contains historical medical artefacts—the Knights of St John were of the Order of the Knight Hospitallers, so it makes sense that the original home of one of these knights would continue to hold treasures of that time. The Marquis points out photos of his parents attending Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. The palazzo is a collection of cultures and historical moments that reflects the mix that makes Malta what it is.

Hidden Palazzo treasures

I’ve been to Italy several times over the years and visited many art museums, but it isn’t until I’m standing inside the majestic St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta that I realized I knew nothing about Italian master Caravaggio. I didn’t know that he had lived in Malta for nearly two years and was—briefly—a Knight. He had a penchant for brawling and murdered a man along the way, resulting in his need to flee Italy. His largest ever artwork, and the only one he ever signed, was created in Malta for the Knights of St John. I learnt this standing in this cathedral in Valletta, in front of The Beheading of John the Baptist, one of the most important works of Western art. The cathedral is also home to a second Caravaggio—Saint Jerome Writing. These masterpieces aren’t the only treasures worth exploring here.

Valletta, the fortified city

Valletta is a living, breathing city, dotted with storefronts and boutique hotels in old converted palazzos and restaurants, some with Michelin stars, others that spill out into the street, where you can sit in the sun and have a coffee and a pastizzi (a Maltese pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas). One of the storefronts we enter is that of Stephen Cordina, a Gozitan aromatherapist and perfumer who weaves Maltese ingredients and inspiration into his natural and luxurious perfumes, candles and body products. The atelier is in the undercroft of the Ursuline Convent, a fitting location, given that the nuns have, for generations, made ilma zahar, or orange blossom water, a floral base that can be used in both baking and scents. Cordina’s approach to perfume making is unique and his workshop resembles one of an alchemist. Cordina also conducts perfume-making workshops—a perfect souvenir to take home.

Valletta is not all museums & galleries

The Malta National Community Art Museum, which opened in 2018 (the year Valletta held the title of European Capital of Culture). The museum is housed in what once was the Auberge d’Italie, housing knights of the Italian langue. Inside, I discover Maltese portrait artist Edward Dingli (1876-1950) and sculptor Antonio Sciortino (1879-1947). Mattia Preti turns up here too, most notably with a 1659 painting of The Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria. Also noteworthy are portraits of some of the Grand Masters of the Order of the Knights, like Alof de Wignacourt, and old maps of Malta through history. The MUŻA museum also houses a restaurant that is high on design and serves modern European dishes. It's housed in various parts of the museum, including an al fresco courtyard. For more on the restaurant, go to our guide to where to eat and where to stay in Malta.

I get a taste of Maltese art at MUŻA

Valletta’s Grand Harbour is exactly that: grand. One of the best places from which to appreciate its full sweep is the Upper Barrakka Gardens which offers a panoramic view of the harbour and the Three Cities across the water from Valletta. They are Senglea, Cospicua and Birgu, the last also known as Vittoriosa for victory, referencing the key role it played in the Great Siege of 1565. This was largely down to Birgu’s most visible landmark, Fort St Angelo, which served as the headquarters of the Order of the Knights of St John before Valletta was built, and was the stronghold from which they repelled the Ottoman advance. Standing on the ramparts, you get the counter view to that enjoyed from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. Beyond its strategic military importance, Birgu is known for its picturesque harbour, marked by row upon row of yachts. We sail across in a dgħajsa, a traditional boat that’s Malta’s answer to Venice’s gondolas. It’s also possible to drive across, but I’d recommend this scenic route.

Birgu is also known as Vittoriosa for victory

Colourful paintings, gold accents, tapestries, a barrel ceiling depicting the life of St John the Baptist, marble statues, more gold ornamentation… it’s a riot of colour, art and decoration. Much of the art is by Mattia Preti, an artist from Calabria who was admitted into the Order of the Knights of St John. Preti’s work adorns the arched ceilings, as well as many of the walls in the side chapels. Each chapel is dedicated to one of the “langues” of the Knights and each is done up in rich Baroque style. Not all the art is above one's head. Looking down I realize the polychrome marble floor is actually made up of over 400 tombstones of knights who were buried here. I didn’t realize tombstones could be this beautiful. Built by the Knights, St John's Co-Cathedral was to be a landmark in this new fortified city. Its austere façade reflected the mood of the time it was completed, in 1577, soon after the Great Siege.

St John’s Co-Cathedral is a sensory explosion inside

Malta is predominantly Roman Catholic. Each town has a patron saint, and the plaques will usually indicate who that is. In Mdina, I spot several plaques depicting Our Lady, though you’d be just as likely to see St Paul. There are around 365 churches in Malta—“one for every day of the year”, as the saying goes. In Mdina, St Paul’s Cathedral is the most noteworthy. Not least because it was St Paul himself who brought Christianity to Malta in 60 AD, after being shipwrecked just off the coast. The site of the wreck is a tiny unoccupied islet, St Paul’s Island, marked with a statue of the saint. The Cathedral in Mdina was rebuilt in 1702, after an earthquake destroyed the original church, and was designed in Baroque style by Maltese architect and sculptor Lorenzo Gafà. Two clocks adorn the front of the church—one indicating the correct time, the other not—the idea being to confuse the devil.

Churches, patron saints, and plaques

Set on the outskirts of present-day Mdina, interestingly, Rabat translates to “suburb” in Semitic languages. (Malta is unique in being the only country whose language has Semitic roots but with Roman script. English is the country’s second national language.) As we approach the centre of town, and draw close to St Paul’s Basilica I notice skull and crossbones carved into the low walls on either side, as well as statues of souls engulfed in flames. My guide Francesca explains that this is a sign we are approaching holy burial grounds. No surprise as Rabat is home to St Paul’s and St Agatha’s Catacombs. Used during the Punic, Roman and Byzantine times and all the way up to about the 7th century AD, these catacombs represent the earliest signs of Christianity in Malta.

A short stroll away lies Rabat

The walled city was Malta’s original capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The Baroque entrance gate, reached by crossing a gently arched bridge over a now-dry moat, towers high above, adorned with a coat of arms and Latin inscriptions. Although the origins of Mdina are ancient, many parts of what visitors see today were restored by the famed Knights of St John during their stewardship of Malta from 1530 to 1768. I love a bit of history. But that’s not entirely why I’m standing stock still at the entrance to Mdina. I am, in fact, replaying a scene in my head: When Lady Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrick Cassel ride across this very bridge and through those very gates to enter King’s Landing in Season 1 of Game Of Thrones. I love history, but I also, like millions around the world, love the hit HBO show.

Standing at the entrance to the Mdina

These catacombs are named such because the burial site is believed to have been connected to St Paul’s Grotto nearby, where the apostle is said to have lived for some time after being shipwrecked). I descend into the catacombs. Exploring catacombs is not for the claustrophobic, but if you can manage it, it’s fascinating. I descend into the ground down a staircase; already, on either side in the walls are small graves. At the bottom, the main entrance is large and cavernous with Doric columns. Two round table-like structures are hewed out of rock; it is believed people would gather here for feasts for the dead. Off in every direction from this main entrance are interconnected, warren-like burial sites, all excavated so what you see is empty graves. But when people were buried here, it was usually with personal ornaments and objects.

We visit St Paul's Catacombs

There are so many labyrinthine alleyways to explore, each built to gently curve to the left or right (as Francesca, my tour guide for the day quips, “Arrows don’t travel in curved lines!”). Strolling along the alleyways, we pass the homes of current Mdina residents, many descended from centuries-old nobility. The doors—red, blue, green—add welcome splashes of colour to the otherwise yellow-ochre tones of the buildings, made from locally sourced limestone (indeed, limestone facades are Malta’s signature style, much as white-washed walls are for Mykonos). You could make a game out of spotting the intricate brass door knockers, some reflecting family crests, others representing lions or dolphins. Doorways in Mdina—and more widely in Malta—are also adorned with plaques depicting saints.

Once past the façade, steps quicken

Lough Eske Castle

Lough Mardal Lodge

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Legend has it the nymph Calypso kept Odysseus prisoner for seven years in a cave on this island. Today, you can visit caves, by land and by boat, luxuriate on red-sand beaches and visit temples that predate the Pyramids.

Sshhhhh… The first capital of Malta is also known as “The Silent City”. No cars, save those of the 250 remaining residents, ply its narrow streets. Here, find a cathedral named for a shipwrecked apostle who introduced Christianity to the islands in 60 AD.

Gondolas ply the harbour, aptly named grand, in front of this UNESCO World Heritage City that was built by Knights. A modern capital with historical roots, it was Europe’s Capital City of Culture in 2018.

Wine, dine and stay

Malta is a country of gastronomy. Mediterranean but with its own twist, given the numerous cultural influences the country has witnessed through the ages. Spanning the range from casual to Michelin fine-dining, there’s something for every taste. Also on offer is a range of places where you could lay your head at night, from old palazzos turned boutique hotels to big-brand resorts, charming B&Bs, and our author’s personal pick: Malta’s oldest and most celebrity-studded luxury hotel. Click the link below to learn more about where and what to eat and drink, and where to stay in Malta. Malta: Where to eat, drink and stay

Feast for the senses

A former travel journalist, Rhea Saran is Global Head of Brand and Content at Travelzoo. Read on to follow her adventure and get first-hand recommendations of what to see, do and eat when in Malta.

WINE DINE & STAY

Photography by Daniel Balzan