Grand Harbour · Malta
The world's smallest capital, built in nine months in 1566. Every stone is history.
01
A capital built in nine months in 1566 after the Great Siege. The grid is by Francesco Laparelli; the Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette gave his name to the city. Two cathedrals, eight auberges (the Knights' national hostels), one of the deepest natural harbours in the world. The Three Cities — Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua — are across the harbour and are the older, lived-in Malta.
02
Noni (one Michelin star) in a 17th-century townhouse on Republic Street. Rubino for the Maltese home cooking — rabbit stew (fenkata), bragioli (beef rolls). Charles Grech for the espresso and the pastizzi (cheese pastry, the national snack). Local wines from Marsovin and Meridiana; Maltese hopiest is gulping cold lager in the summer heat.
03
Phoenician temples (Tarxien, Ggantija) predate Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids — 3600 BC. The Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish. The Knights Hospitaller arrived in 1530 after losing Rhodes and held until Napoleon evicted them in 1798. The British protectorate followed (1814–1964). The 1565 Great Siege saved Western Europe from Ottoman expansion, arguably.
04
Malta's beaches are limited; Mellieħa Bay and Golden Bay are the main ones, both 25 minutes from Valletta. By boat: the Comino Blue Lagoon (10nm) — turquoise lagoon, arrive before 9am, gets 50 boats by 11; Gozo (15nm) for the Ggantija temples, the inland sea at Dwejra, Ramla Bay; Crystal Cave on Comino's western cliff in calm weather.
05
The Co-Cathedral of St John has Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist — the largest painting he ever made, the only one he signed, with the victim's blood. In the Oratory. The Lascaris War Rooms (the Allied command bunker beneath Valletta) is the WWII history. Avoid August; the limestone holds the heat.
Nearby
UNESCO · Baroque city
Built in 1566 in nine months by the Knights of St John after the Great Siege. The Co-Cathedral of St John contains Caravaggio's largest painting and his best.
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist — one of the few works Caravaggio signed, with the victim's blood. In the Oratory.
Island · Prehistoric temples
The Ggantija temples (3600 BC) predate Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. The mythological site of Calypso's cave overlooks Ramla Bay.
Anchor in Mgarr harbour and ferry across. The inland sea at Dwejra — a lagoon connected to the sea by a tunnel — is accessible by dinghy.
Lagoon · Beach · Snorkelling
An uninhabited island with a landlocked turquoise lagoon. The water is consistently 28°C through summer. Arrive before 9am — by 11am there are 50 boats.
The Blue Lagoon in September is a different experience from August. Crystal Cave on the western cliff — accessible by dinghy in calm conditions.
Wind & seasons
The central Mediterranean gets the Gregale (NE) in winter and the Scirocco (SE, hot, sand-laden) in summer. June–September is the sailing window. The Grand Harbour is one of the finest natural harbours in the world.
