City in the Western Region of Malta
Photo: Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Mdina is a small city in Malta and its former capital. The town is a joy to stroll around in: many of the alleys really give the sense that nothing has changed here for more than a millennium since the Arabs were here. The main attractions are the cathedral whose design inspired many of the other churches in Malta and the cathedral museum. The view from the city walls makes it plain why this site was chosen in ancient times, one has a commanding view over most of the island from here.
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Metropolitan Cathedral
Admission to the cathedral and the museum is included in a single ticket. Cathedral was built in the Baroque style by Lorenzo Gafà after the earthquake of 1693 destroyed the original 12th-century Norman structure. Like the Cathedral of St. John in Valletta, its floor is covered with intricately inlaid marble gravestones belonging to Maltese aristocracy. Also noteworthy is the impressive wall painting at the back of the cathedral depicting the shipwrecking of St Paul on Malta. The face has two clocks (one for time and one for date). There is an apocryphal (though much repeated and widely published) story that the reasoning was to have one clock that showed the correct time and one that served to confuse the devil.
Admission to the cathedral and the museum is included in a single ticket. The quaint cathedral museum houses a variety of different small collections. Perhaps the most important is a beautiful set of woodcut prints The Life of the Virgin by Albrecht Dürer. Furthermore, it has a collection of the cathedral's attributes and a tiny display of the 19th-century priests who took the initiative to develop Maltese in a written form. Amazingly, as it was never in the colonial power's interest, the Maltese had to do without writing in their own language since the Arabs left in the 11th century. The entire archive of the inquisition in Malta, which was only banned by Napoleon the day he invaded, is kept here but is not on public display.
The museum is housed in an 18th-century palace, designed in Parisian Baroque style. It covers various topics such as Maltese Geology and Palaeontology, exotic mammals, marine fauna, insects, shells and birds and other topics like human evolution.
Located within the Mdina battlements, this cultural attraction presents the origins and history of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem through a series of tableaux and a 3D audio-visual show.
Located in Roman vaults under the front of the city walls.
Italian restaurant with an extensive menu including pizza, burgers and the odd Maltese dish. Allergen-friendly with vegan, lactose-free and gluten-free options.
It has a wonderful view from its upstairs terrace on top of the city wall. The cakes desserts are recommended, but the main dishes are if tuxedo quality. The service is indifferent, but the imposing view of half of Malta lying before you makes it more than worthwhile to have a coffee there.
The only hotel inside the city walls, it's in a beautiful 17th-century palazzo. It may be more exclusive than the Phoenicia in Valletta making it the most exclusive in Malta, a suite with its own hot tub on the roof with a view over the entire country is, of course, hard to beat.
Buses run from Valletta (30 minutes), Sliema, and St Julians (45 or longer depending on traffic).
Read in the guideOnly inhabitants are allowed to take cars within the city walls; most streets are too narrow in any case, and it takes less than 10 minutes to walk from one end of the town to the other.
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Valletta · International · MLA
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