Inside Mdina, Malta’s ancient walled city

Car-free, limestone-quiet and home to fewer than 300 permanent residents, Mdina has been inhabited for 4,000 years and feels it. This is the Malta most visitors never slow down enough to find

Many places tell you about their history, few make you feel it. In Malta’s once-capital, Mdina (from the Arabic madīnah, for town), it feels as if time is truly standing still. Within its storied bastion walls, narrow, shaded streets wind between tawny architecture documenting the tale of its long life: 17th-century palazzos, grand cathedral facades and angular lookouts beyond which Malta and the sparkling Mediterranean sprawl.

Mdina is Malta’s second walled city (the other being Valletta), but its history is much more vast than today’s capital. While Valletta was built by Grand Master Jean de Valette and the Knights of St John following victory in the 1565 siege against the Ottomans, Mdina is the country’s oldest town, dating back some 4,000 years to the Bronze Age.

Its raised position on the hillside made it a much coveted spot for civilisations over the centuries: the Phoenicians built a settlement here in the 8th century BCE, the Romans used it as a base in the 2nd century BCE and the Sicilians occupied it in the 11th century. By the 15th-century, Mdina was one of only three inhabited places in the archipelago, alongside Gozo’s citadel and Birgu (one of the Three Cities on the Grand Harbour).

This striking town got its ‘Silent City’ moniker in the 1500s after the centre of politics shifted to Valletta and the majority of the population relocated. It remains an apt name today though: as an almost car-free burg, only tourists, a few hundred residents and the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages break the silence.  

In many ways this dominating fortification is the heart of the islands, both in its historical significance and its position near the centre of the mainland. Even its entrance is grand: to gain access, visitors must walk over a stone bridge which stretches across cultivated lawns and pathways, before strolling beneath an 18th century city gate deemed iconic enough to feature in HBO’s hit TV series Game of Thrones.

Within, evidence of the city’s story is everywhere. Wood-shuttered windows and wrought iron rejas protect interiors from Malta’s sweltering sun and unwanted intruders as they have done for eons, while Baroque detailing and neoclassical notes belie some of the influence imparted by more recent occupiers.

An Ormina Tour will give you two nights to soak it all up, and simply wandering its streets is the best way to do it. If possible though, make sure you stroll by the Palazzo Santa Sofia, believed to be the oldest building in the city. Its lower level dates back to 1233, and, although it’s not open to the public, it’s worth visiting to appreciate the contrast of ancient limestone design between the ground level and its more modern second floor. 

In the abutting square, St. Paul’s Cathedral and its museum showcase both the city’s religious significance (this is the site where St. Paul is said to have met the governor of Malta following his shipwreck, and the country subsequently converted to Christianity) and associated items from across history such as intricate renaissance art (look out for the Polyptych of St.Paul) and Malta’s oldest bell. 

After your tour, there’ll be time for lunch, and in Mdina, there are endless places to sample traditional Maltese cuisine. Restaurants are on every corner, some set within cool, honey-hued houses, others with al fresco seating and some sporting Michelin-starred menus on roof terraces elevated from the bustle below.

Only a handful of hotels exist within Mdina itself, making them highly desirable and frequently booked up. When travelling with Ormina however, you’ll be lucky enough to bed down for two nights in the luxurious, five-star Xara Palace, a converted 17th-century palazzo built into the city’s bastion walls. Inside, suites evoke the regal feeling of those who once lived there, each meticulously designed to accentuate the building’s history. Indulge in flagstone floors, high ceilings and towering windows boasting breath-taking views over Malta’s countryside.

Malta’s history sprawls out beyond Mdina too. At the base of the city lies the Domvs Romana, a ruined Roman-era house dating to the 1st century BCE and which still sports intricate thousand-year-old tesserae and mosaic paintings. Minutes further on, in Rabat, visitors will discover St. Paul’s Catacombs, a mesmerising warren of Jewish and Christian hypogea comprising the largest burial site in the country. 

Mdina is a crucial inclusion to any Maltese itinerary, guaranteed to impress whatever time of year you visit. Luckily, your overnight stay inside its walls means experiencing Mdina as most visitors don’t. At sundown, as the day trippers depart and the labyrinthine streets empty, the sun-warmed stones begin to cool and sharp shadows carve up the city. It’s here when the tranquility and peace of this special burg comes into its own. Head up to the Xara Palace roof terrace or wind between the golden, flood-lit streets to witness sunset from one of the best vantage points in the country – watching the glow of the dying light sink beyond Dingli Cliffs and into the Mediterranean is a scene not quickly forgotten.

Visit Ormina Tours to discover Mdina.