Understand
Valletta is the capital of the island nation of Malta. A harbour city, Valletta preserves much of its 16th century architectural heritage built under the Hospitallers. Valletta was one of the earliest sites inscibed by UNESCO on the World Heritage list.
Get in
By car
AS with the buslines the many main roads also converge on Valletta, however once inside the city there are many one-way streets and some pedestrian zones. Parking near one's destination can also be difficult. There is a large multi-storey car park in Floriana, about half a kilometre from Valletta.
By bus
In front of the main gate of Valletta is the main bus station for the entire island, rather than buslines covering the island in a grid, they all spread out from here and return to here.
By boat
Instead of paying a lot of money for a harbour cruise there is a small ferry leaving from Sliema which will take you across beautiful Marsamxett harbour and past Manoel Island for just 38 cents.
Another little known way is to visit Vittoriosa by bus and then have the Maltese version of the gondola, the so called Dghajsa bring you back in style across the spectacular Grand Harbour to Valletta, and drop you off just by Victoria gate for just 1.5 Lira p.p.
Get around
The Valletta peninsula is only a couple of kilometres in length and so the ideal way is to do everything on foot also allowing one to make use of the atmospheric stairs throughout this steep city. However, the city is built on a ridge, and is steep in parts (requiring walking up and down stairs in some places), which can be tiring. The alternative would be doing it by car which is not ideal for visitors due to lack of parking space, direction signs and the fact that the streets are very narrow, often one way and confusing if unfamiliar. Most of the main tourist attractions are along the main street (Triq ir-Republika) which does not involve steep hills.
Another possibility is to rent one of the horsecarts (Karozzin), but be sure to haggle over the price.
Bus route 98 runs within Valletta itself. It departs from Valletta Terminus at the following times:
Mon-Fri: 6:30 - every 30 minutes - 9:00 - every hour - 18:00
Sat: 6:30 - every 30 minutes - 9:00 - every hour - 12:00
See
In debateable order of importance:
Do
One can take a spectacular walk along the sea around the outside of the city walls. If one goes to the mooringplace for the ferry for Sliema leaves there is the possibility to walk over the rocks towards the tip of the peninsula and then around it coming back up into the city just next to the Malta Experience. This walk takes about 30 minutes and is done by virtually no-one.
Learn
Several of the Maltese English language institutes are in Valletta.
Buy
The main street of Valletta is Republic street, a busy pedestrian zone leading down the middle of the Peninsula from the main gate down to Republic square, this is where many of the better shops are located, although it cannot quite compete with Sliema for clothing.
The best souvenirshop (the least worthless trinkets etc.) can be found at the Malta experience, but there are many other reasonable souvenir shops in Valletta.
The best bookshop of Malta is definitely Sapienzas on Republic street.
There is a daily market selling cheap clothing in the parallel street to Republic street called Triq il-Mercanti, or Merchants street.
Eat
Valletta has a collection of decent restaurants, due to most of the tourists residing either in Sliema or on the north coast of the island there are fewer of the trashy variety, although it does have the ubiquitous fastfood places (Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut). In recent years, the number of restaurants open in the evenings has grown.
Budget
If you keep your eyes open you may run into one of the charming traditional bakeries tucked away here and there where the tourist economy hasn't forced prices up yet and one can get lovely steaming fresh bread for mere cents.
Mid-range
Splurge
Drink
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Contact
Opposite to the Trabuxu wine bar at the beginning of 'Strait Street' there is a internet cafe.
Stay safe
Apart from some restaurants and bars open in the evening Valletta still has next to nothing happening in terms of nightlife, so apart from Republic street the streets are quite empty late at night. Most of the usual petty crime that travellers are confronted with happens in Sliema and St Julians, but it's something to keep in mind.
Get out
Almost all of Malta's busroutes start from the large roundabout just outside the main gate.
There is also the ferry which goes to Sliema for 38 cents.
Places to Visit: Mdina, Vittoriosa (aka Birgu), Gozo
Valletta is itself a UNESCO World Heiritge Site but two more can be found in the suburb of Tarxien, in the form of the Megalithic Temples and the Hypogeum
Valletta, population 6,315 (official estimate for 2005), is the capital city of Malta. The whole city was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
Name
The official name the Order of Saint John gave to the city was Humilissima Civitas Valletta — The Most Humble City of Valletta. However, with the building of bastions, curtains and ravelins, along with the beauty of the baroque buildings along its streets, it became known as Superbissima — 'Most Proud', amongst the ruling houses of Europe. In Maltese it is colloquially known as Il-Belt, simply meaning "The City".
Benjamin Disraeli visited Valletta in August 1830 , on the recommendation of his friend, Lord Byron. He described Valletta as "a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen", and remarked that "Valletta, equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe," and in subsequent letters to friends, that it is "comparable to Venice and Cadiz...not a single tree, but full of palaces worthy of Palladio."
Government
Dr. Paul Borg Olivier is the Mayor of Valletta and has been leading the City Council since 1999 . Dr. Borg Olivier was elected on the Nationalist Party Ticket (PN), an affiliate of the European People's Party, which holds the majority of the Council.
History
The foundation stone of Valletta was laid by the Grandmaster of the Order of Saint John, Jean Parisot de la Valette, on 28 March 1566; The Order (which was the long-time ruler of the city and the island) decided to found a new city on the Xiberras peninsula just after the end of the Siege of Malta in 1565 , so as to fortify the Order's position in Malta, effectively binding the Knights to the island. The city was designed by Francesco Laparelli, while many of the most important buildings were built by Gerolamo Cassar. Valletta, hence, is an urban area which boasts many buildings from the 16th century and onwards, but most of them were built during the time of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (the Knights Hospitaller, or Knights of Malta).
After the Knights and the brief French interlude, the next building boom in Valletta occurred during the British rule. Gates were widened, buildings demolished and rebuilt, houses widened and civic projects installed: However the whole city and its infrastructure were damaged by air raids in World War II, notably losing its majestic opera house constructed at the city entrance in the 19th century.
Geography
The Valletta peninsula, which is fed by the two natural harbours of Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour, is Malta's major port, with unloading quays at Marsa; a cruise-liner terminal has been built recently in the Grand Harbour, along the old sea-wall of the duty free stores built by Grandmaster Manuel Pinto de Fonseca.
The city contains several buildings of historic importance, amongst which are St John's Co-Cathedral, formerly the Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta and home to the largest single work by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, his only signed work, and a priceless collection of seventeenth-century Flemish tapestries (alongside Republic Street); the Auberge de Castille et Leon, formerly the official seat of the of the Knights of Malta of the Langue of Castille, Léon and Portugal, now the office of the Prime Minister of Malta (found on the highest point of the city, above the bastions); the Magisterial Palace, built between 1571 and 1574, formerly the seat of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, now housing the Maltese Parliament and the offices of the President of Malta (opposite Palace Square along Republic Street); the National Museum of Fine Arts, a Rococo palace dating back to the late 1570s, which served as the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the British era, from 1789 onwards (in South Street); the National Museum of Archaeology, formerly the Auberge de Provence (Republic Street); the Manoel Theatre (Teatru Manoel, in Maltese), constructed in just ten months in 1731, by order of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, and one of the oldest working theatres in Europe; the Mediterranean Conference Centre, formerly the Sacra Infermeria, built in 1574, one of Europe's most renowned hospitals during the time of the Knights of Malta; and the fortifications themselves, built by the Knights as a magnificent series of bastions, demi-bastions, ravelins and curtains, approximately 100 metres high, designed to protect the city from attack.
Valletta has a suburb, Floriana, which was built on the outside part of the Valletta bastions and on the inner part of the Floriana Lines, hence leaving an area between these two lines to house those that could not afford a house in Valletta. Another area for such people is located within Valletta's own walls: In the original plans, the Order wanted a man-made creek to house the navy, however this could not be completed, and so the area, known as Manderaggio (in Maltese 'il-Mandraġġ'), was taken over by the homeless, so resulting in a jumble of buildings with dark alleyways in despicable sanitary conditions. The Manderaggio was partially demolished in the 1950s so as to build a housing area in Valletta. The area still remains a shabby area, yet still it is better than it was before.
Demographics
The population of Valletta has steadily decreased over the years, and is now reduced to about a third of its peak. This process was heavily accelerated after World War II as new development in outlying suburbs marked a shift of the population away from the capital city, but it continues as the centre of Malta's commercial and administrative activity.
Transport
Buses
Malta's public transport system, which uses buses, operates mostly on routes to or from Valletta, with their central terminus just outside the city's entrance. Traffic within the city itself is restricted, with some principal roads being completely pedestrian areas.
Park and Ride
In 2006, a park and ride system was implemented in order to reduce traffic in the more prominent areas of the city. People can leave their personal vehicles in a Floriana parking lot and transfer to a van for the rest of the trip, which takes a mere few minutes.
Main sights
Churches
Palaces
Museums
Theatres
Piazzas
Gardens
Forts
Other
Culture
Music
The capital city was the mecca of jazz music in Malta, introduced in the lively Strait Street area frequented by Royal Navy sailors. The famous Cafe Premier in Republic Square hosted many jazz formations.
Carnival
Valletta is the scene of Malta's boisterous annual Carnival in the days leading up to Lent.
Feasts
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are celebrated with devotion every 16 July, Saint Dominic is celebrated in Valletta on August 2,, whilst the feasts of Saint Paul, Saint Augustine and celebrated throught the year. A procession of St. Rita is also carried out.
Sports
Valletta is also renowned for its football club Valletta FC, one of the top football clubs on the Maltese island.
In popular culture
See also
External links
