Where to go in Malta by hire car

Starting with Valletta and the suburbs, move on to Mdina and Rabat and then visit the southeast coast and the North West.

Visit Valletta by hire car

Valletta is a beautiful city which conjures up images of a noble and majestic past, and is a must-see town if you are planning to tour around Malta by hire car from Luqa Airport. The city that has been at the centre of Malta's turbulent history ... 'That splendid town, quite like a dream', wrote Sir Walter Scott. When you see Valletta, whether from the air, or from a boat, or in the glow of the late afternoon sun, you'll agree with him. The light turns the city's bright stone bastions and buildings to gold, making it a place of enchantment which seems to float on an indigo sea. It was not always this way.

Mdina or Medina Malta

Mdina, the walled inland city:as the capital of Malta from pre Roman times until the Great Siege of 1565. But the Grand Master, Jean Parisot de la Valette, saw the defensive possibilities of the Sceberras peninsula and his imagination was fired. After the knights' victory, plans were laid to build a capital there, with in¬vulnerable fortifications. The sharply hog backed ridge with its two great natural harbours, Marsamxett on one side and the Grand Harbour on the other, was the perfect place. So it was that in 1566, despite the enormous cost anticipated, work was begun by Francesco Laparelli, who had served as architect to Cosimo de' Medici and Pope Pius IV. Laparelli is said to have masterminded the entire city plan in a mere three days, and two years later, when he left, Gerolamo Cassar (his Malteseassistant) took over and kept to the original conception.

The new city was con¬structed quickly but intelli¬gently. Around the uniform grid shaped street plan, a solid line of stone curtains and bas¬tions was built, which made it virtually impregnable. Fresh water remained a problem until the 17th century, when Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt ordered the con¬struction of an aqueduct from springs near Mdina: this new supply even allowed gardens to be added near to the fortifi¬cations.

Valletta suffered merciless bombing during World War II, but it was a victorious and courageous Maltese people who wept with joy when the blockade was broken in 1942 They are proud of their city, and have kept its original charms intact.

The old town of Valletta Malta

The best way to visit Valletta is by hire car to the outskirts and then on foot, as the streets are narrow and many are closed to traffic. Sunset is a good time for a walk round, when the shadows are cooling the streets, and you can join strollers out for the evening social hour known as the passeggiata. From the roundabout bus terminal and Triton Fountain, a footbridge crosses the deep rock cut defensive ditch. You pass through the City Gate ¬rebuilt in post war style and into Freedom Square, with an arcade and complex of shops on either side. Directly ahead is Republic Street, which is closed to motor traffic for most of the day.

Parallel to it on the right is the second principal artery, Merchants Street. Both streets run on for 1.5km (al¬most 1 mile) to Fort St Elmo at the end of the peninsula. Opposite City Gate you'll see sad ruins of the classical old opera house built by E.M. Barry a reminder of the bombing in World War II.

To the right is Valletta's oldest church, the baroque Our Lady of Victories, completed in 1567 as a commemoration of the Great Siege victory (its front was remodelled in the 17th century). Next to it a crumbling reddish facade is what remains of one of the earliest houses built in the city. Opposite is the church of St Catherine of Italy, a domed structure originally designed by Cassar, but later rebuilt.

A few steps further on is the Auberge de Castile et Leon, most impressive of the auberges, now housing the of¬fice of the Prime Minister. The auberges (inns) are the build¬ings where the knights were accommodated. Each langue had its own Just beyond Castile Place are the Upper Barrakka Gar¬dens, built in the 18th . With green shrubs and trees, bright hibiscus and statues, the area is a pleasant retreat where the knights used to stroll and supposedly hatch plots, or where the people watched them set off on expeditions.

Among the statues you'll see today are a group of children, Les Gavroches, by Antonio Sciortino, the Maltese sculptor; a monument to Lord Strick¬land, Prime Minister from 1927 30; a bust of Sir Winston Churchill; and the tomb of Sir Thomas Maitland, 'King Tom', the peppery governor of Malta (and Corfu) from 1813¬-24. From under the colonnade here there's a stunning view across Grand Harbour. On the far left guarding the harbour mouth is the 17thcentury Fort Ricasoli; directly ahead is Fort St Angelo (Grand Master de la Valette's headquarters in the Great Siege) at Vittoriosa; to the right is Dockyard Creek, where the knights had their boats repaired. The next pro¬montory is Senglea , behind which rises the town of Cospicua, built later when the defensive walls were ex¬tended by Grand Master Co¬toner. Directly below you, on Lascaris Wharf, is the old Cus¬toms House, attractively built in Venetian style, and several well restored warehouses.

Parisio Palace Valetta Malta
Return to Merchants Street and you’ll see Parisio Palace, on the right, where Napoleon stayedfor a few days in 1798. Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the palace is a sober 18thcentury building. On the opposite side of the street the Auberge d'Italie, built by Cas¬sar Mer¬chants Street to Republic Street via Melita Street. This thoroughfare is a hive of activity in the 16th century, was later modified and is now the General Post Office. Make your way from, lined with all kinds of shops, cafes and snack bars. The Church of Santa Bar¬bara (between South Street and Melita Street) is unusual for its simple decoration and oval shape beneath a soaring dome. This church was used by the knights of the langue of Provence. Today the Cath¬olic services are held here in English, French and German.

Conveniently nearby, the Auberge de Provence, on your left as you head towards Fort St Elmo, now houses the National Museum of Archae¬ology (for opening hours, This auberge, founded in 1571, was designed by Ger¬olamo Cassar. The museum's collection, begun in the 17th and 18th cen¬turies and reorganized in the 20th century by the Maltese ar¬chaeologist, Sir Themistocles Zammit, was brought here when the museum was inaugu¬rated in 1957.

It's essential to see this collection for a better under¬standing of Malta's prehistoric sites. Among the fascinating objects here are the celebrated 13cm (5in) long 'Sleeping Woman' statuette from the Hypogeum underground burial chambers, and the huge lower half of a 'fat lady' transplanted from Tarxien, where she was being eroded by the elements. Stones showing the early 'pit¬ted' style of decoration or the later spiral form have been brought here from Magar Qim, Tarxien and other sites (and re¬placed there by replicas) for the same reason.

There are also artefacts from each of Malta's prehis¬toric periods such as car¬bonized seeds and weapons, and a curious Tarxien plate engraved with bulls and goats. The shards of big bowls and vases from the Tarxien period have since been reassembled, and from the number found, it is thought that breaking ves¬sels may have been part of the ancient religious cult.
Upstairs, the museum has some interesting Roman and Punic (Carthaginian) pottery and jewellery, and a cippus (small pillar) with inscriptions in both Phoenician and Greek, which enabled scholars to find the key to the deciphering of Phoenician. Its twin was given to Louis XIV and is now in the Louvre in Paris.

After leaving the museum, if you turn again towards Fort St Elmo, you'll see St John's Square and the Cathedral just off to the right.

Valletta Market Malta

The street becomes a delightful open air market on weekday mornings (on Sundays it moves to St James' Ditch). St John's Co Cathedral (for opening hours, the knights' own church, was built between 157377 to the plans of Gerolamo Cassar. It is considered to be his master¬piece and was raised to its cathedral status in 1816 by Pope Pius VII, sharing the dis¬tinction with Mdina Cathedral (hence the 'Co').

The building's rather plain facade does nothing to prepare you for an interior that reveals a quite staggering display of baroque art. Sir Walter Scott wrote that he had never seen a more striking church nave. The barrel vaulted space is 58m (189ft) long, 20m (64ft) high, and 35m (115ft) wide, and flanked on both sides by chapels, most of which were built by the various langues of the knights and named after saints. Everywhere you look, this church is densely carved in high relief, gilded or richly painted with religious motifs.

The chapels of Valletta and car hire

Hire a car in Valletta or at Luqa Airport to full explore the chapels and sights of the city. To the right of the nave are the chapels of St James, St George, St Sebastian and the Blessed Sacrament. This last has an extraordinary screen and gates in solid silver, which, legend has it, were cleverly concealed by being painted black when the French were on a pillaging spree dur¬ing their occupation of 1798. The vault of the church is decorated with oil on stone paintings by the 17thcentury Calabrian artist Mattia Preti. They tell the story of St John the Baptist, and took five years (1662-67) to complete. The rich high altar (1681) was designed by the architect Lorenzo Gafa, and presents an elaborate array of marble, silver plate and lapis lazuli. The group behind the altar is of the Baptism of Christ, by Sicilian sculptor Giuseppe Mazzuoli.

Going back towards the main door you'll see on the right the chapels of St Charles (or of the Holy Relics), St Michael, St Paul, St Catherine and the Chapel of the Magi. Most chapels have busts or other monuments commemor¬ating Grand Masters. In the sacristy are paintings by Ste¬fano Pieri, Preti and Antoine de Favray. To reach the oratory and museum, take a door on the right facing the altar, third bay from the entrance.

The oratory's main feature is the monumental painting by Cara¬vaggio, The Beheading of St John, widely considered to be the finest painting in Malta. Commissioned by the Order to paint several works, the hot tempered Caravaggio ended up assaulting one of the knights. The details of the story are unclear, but the artist left the island in disgrace in 1608. The painting dramatically uses chiaroscuro and lively baroque composition well suited to its violent theme.