5 historic sites
Castles in Malta
Malta's castle heritage is inseparable from its geography — a limestone archipelago in the Mediterranean's narrowest passage, fought over by every empire that needed to control that crossing. The Knights of St. John built a harbour fortress here that held against 40,000 Ottoman troops in 1565 and refused to surrender to the Luftwaffe in 1942. No other country of comparable size has accumulated more military history per square kilometre.
malta · Birgu (Vittoriosa)
Fort St. Angelo
The ancient harbour fortress that held Malta against the great Ottoman siege of 1565
malta · Mdina
Palazzo Falson
The second-oldest building in Mdina — and home to 3,500 objects assembled in one lifetime by a Swedish-Maltese collector who became one of the Mediterranean's most remarkable connoisseurs
malta · Northern Region, Malta — central highland plateau
Mdina
Malta's Silent City — a walled medieval capital where no cars are allowed and 1,000 years have barely touched the streets
malta · Valletta
Casa Rocca Piccola
A Knight of Malta built it in 1580, four centuries of one family filled it — Casa Rocca Piccola is the last inhabited noble palace in Valletta open to the public, WWII shelter tunnels included
malta · Naxxar, Central Malta
Palazzo Parisio
A Belle Époque aristocratic palace in Naxxar — Malta's finest private residence, with a grand ballroom, frescoed ceilings, and a formal baroque garden open to the public