Valletta and the Barrakka gardens
A city built in one go in 1566 by knights, on a peninsula of golden limestone.
Duration
3 hrs – 5 hrs
Best time
Late afternoon
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Valletta was founded in 1566 by the Order of St John, the year after the Great Siege in which a few thousand knights held out against the Ottoman army. It was laid out in one go, on a grid, on a peninsula between two natural harbours, and built from the island's golden limestone — the city is the colour of its ground.
The Upper Barrakka gardens stand tens of metres above the Grand Harbour and look across to the Three Cities. The saluting battery below still fires at noon and at four, as it has since the sixteenth century to give the hour to shipping.
Getting there
Terminus of the island's buses at City Gate. A public lift links the harbour to the Barrakka gardens level in seconds.
Rules on site
The streets drop to both harbours by stairways, some with low, wide steps — designed for knights in armour. Handsome, and tiring. The co-cathedral bans stiletto heels, which damage the tomb slabs.