Mdina, Valletta

Mdina, Valletta

Mdina, also known as Città Vecchia or Città Notabile, is a fortified city that is strategically located on an extension of the Dingli plateau at 185 meters above sea level.

Mdina, also known as Città Vecchia or Città Notabile, is a fortified city that is strategically located on an extension of the Dingli plateau at 185 meters above sea level. It lies 14 kilometres to the west of Valletta, and was Malta's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. Founded in the 8th century BC by Phoenician settlers as Maleth, it was renamed Melita by the Romans around 200 BC, and came to be known as Mdina during the Saracen era. The city flourished as the capital till the arrival of the Order of St. John in 1530, when the administrative centre was shifted to Birgu.

Today, the walled city is home to under 300 people, and has a dreamy medieval ambience with a mix of Norman and Baroque style limestone buildings. It has mostly pedestrian streets and a limited number of cars, earning it the moniker 'Silent City'. The major things to see in Mdina are -

• The city walls which were built by Arabs and reinforced by Normans. Along the stretch are the Baroque Main Gate (aka Vilhena Gate) and Greeks Gate built in 1724, and the Torre dello Standardo built in 1725 to designs by Charles François de Mondion.
• St. Paul's Cathedral - a Baroque Roman Catholic church founded in the 12th century. The present structure was built by Lorenzo Gafa in 1702 after the earlier building was destroyed in an earthquake. Its floor is inlaid with marble tombstones of bishops and nobility.
• Palazzo Vilhena - an 18th century French Baroque palace that is now home to the National Museum of Natural History.
• Palazzo Falson - a 13th century medieval palace that is open as a historic house museum.
• Domvs Romana – archaeological site with the ruins of a Roman aristocratic townhouse from the 1st century BC and 11th century Muslim cemetery.
• Palazzo Santa Sofia - the oldest building in the city which dates back to 1233.
• Banca Giuratale - the Municipal Palace which houses the National Archives.
• Corte Capitanale – an18th century French Baroque building that is now the city hall.
• Church of the Annunciation of Our Lord or Carmelite Church – a 17th century Baroque church noted for its artwork by the likes of as Giuseppe Calì, Stefano Erardi, and Michele Bellanti.
• St Peter's Church and Monastery - a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery for Cloistered nuns from the 15th century.

Other attractions include Palazzo Gatto Murina, St. Agatha's Chapel, Palazzo Costanzo, St. Nicholas' Chapel, St Roque's Church, Mdina Dungeons with secret underground passages, and Bastion Square. The Mdina Experience is an audio-visual show that explores 3000 years of the city's history.