Valletta, Malta’s island capital, is in the middle of the Mediterranean and it’s a World Heritage Site, the first ‘planned city’ ever built in Europe. Small in scale and easy to explore, it offers stunning coastal views and gorgeous architecture, from renaissance palaces to the 21st century City Gate. Its history is fascinating too, especially the inspiring stories of how Malta triumphed during the Great Siege of 1565 and why the island was awarded the George Cross during World War II.
The 8 episodes in our City Break Valletta series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this unique city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.
Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers. As a minimum, you’ll also find an introductory summary plus useful links and ideas for further reading. Eventually, there’ll be full blogpost with lot more information and pictures.
vALLETTA : HISTORY & CULTURE
EPISODE 1: Introduction to Valletta
Merħba il-Valletta: welcome to Valletta, the capital of Malta. Valletta is a World Heritage Site, small in scale, easy to explore and known for its stunning coastal views and gorgeous architecture. Here you can ‘meet’ such varied characters from history as St Paul, Caravaggio and the Knights of St John and learn some of the island’s most inspiring stories: how Malta triumphed during the Great Siege of 1565 and why the island was awarded the George Cross during World War II.
EPISODE 2: Walks around Valletta
Valletta is a very walkable city and this episode offers three walking routes for exploring it. They could be done in a day if you want to see all the main sights quickly, or you could spread them out over a few days, linger a little, go into some of the places we pass by and build up an in-depth knowledge of Malta’s capital city. Take a street map with you and you should be able to follow the routes easily.
EPISODE 3: The Knights of Malta
This episode gives a little history on the Knights of Malta and explains where to ‘find’ them in Valletta today. In fact they’re everywhere, not least in the Maltese Cross you’ll keep seeing, on information panels everywhere and in the beautiful buildings they left behind. In fact, they founded the city of Valletta and built it from scratch – Europe’s very first planned city.
EPISODE 4: WWII
There are traces of World War II everywhere in Valletta. This episode begins with a little history from the period and explains why the island of Malta was awarded the prestigious George Cross. Then we look at 3 museums which all take a different approach, covering the military action here on ‘Fortress Malta’ and also explaining what the war did to the daily lives of its people. We end with a look at some of Valletta’s memorials to this turbulent period, which are all within a few minutes’ walk of each other at the Floriana end of the city.
EPISODE 5: Art, Architecture & Archaeology
This is a pot-pourri episode, beginning with a look at Valletta’s art scene: the National Art Gallery, 3 artists linked to the island and the oratory where the 2 most famous paintings are hidden away. Next, some pointers on the city’s architecture: typical design features and the three main periods, all of which are represented by buildings to look out for in Valletta today. Lastly, a trip to the National Museum of Archaeology, where you can learn lots about the island’s very distant past and pick up some tips to inform visits to the rest of the island.
EPISODE 6: Food & Festivities
This episode is dedicated to two topics which are very important in Malta – food and festivities. Malta has more public holidays – 14 – than most other European countries, plus a whole range of other feasts and festivals. Of course, food is key to most of them and so this episode introduces you to both. We cover the varied culinary offerings, influenced by so many centuries of foreign cultures coming to the island and then look at the equally expansive range of celebration days, religious, national and cultural. In short, plenty of fun!
EPISODE 7: Day Trips from Valletta
Here are our ideas for easy days out from Valletta if you want to explore some of the rest of Malta. We start with the two most popular day trips, to the 3 Cities and to Mdina and Rabat, both very easy to do on public transport. Then we have a look at hop-on, hop-off bus tours and boat trips. You could spend a week in Valletta, you could just as easily spend a week doing day trips with Valletta as a base! Most likely, you’ll do a little of each and this episode will help you plan your excursions to other parts of the island.
EPISODE 8: Stories from Malta
This last episode on the Valletta series brings you lots of different stories from Malta. We start with a little descriptive writing, factual and fictional, followed by mini-biographies of 4 people who’ve featured in previous episodes but not really had the time they deserve: St Paul, St Publius, Caravaggio and Daphne Caruana Galizia, the high-profile journalist murdered for her stand against corruption in Malta. And to finish, some literary extracts, namely a mystery story set in Malta and 2 World War II love stories. In short, a whole range of new perspectives on Valletta and its surroundings.
VALLETTA: links and reading
Two useful websites for tourists
Visit Malta
Malta Uncovered
3 Guide Books
Pocket Rough Guide to Malta and Gozo
Lonely Planet Malta and Gozo
Eyewitness Top 10 Malta and Gozo
3 History Books
The History of Malta by Nuria Rehn
Fortress Island Malta by Peter Jacobs
Ladies of Lascaris by Paul McDonald
2 Books on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Story
A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Ryan Murdock
Maltese Cooking
Taste of Malta by Anton B Dougall
2 Novels set in Malta
The Kappillan of Malta by Nicholas Monserrat
Secrets of Malta by Cecily Blench
PODCASTS to get you started
OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS
LATEST ARTICLES
GALLERY
