A Week in Malta & Gozo - The Walled City of Mdina (Day 4)
Mdina Gate and several other locations in the city were used during the recreation of King’s Landing from the filming of Game of Thrones.
UPDATED: 2/5/2023
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Our fourth day would be our last in the Valletta area before heading to the island of Gozo. We had a relatively quiet morning in Valletta before heading over to the walled medieval city of Mdina, which we fell in love with. Other than the draw of tourism, I would love to live there! Mdina is also known as the Silent City - more info below on how it got that name - and has been a filming spot for you Game of Thrones fans out there. Read below for more on our explorations of Mdina, and some great dining recommendations for both lunch and dinner.
A Morning in Valletta
Eating croissants for breakfast while the breeze comes in off the ocean feels wonderful!
We decided to try somewhere new for breakfast and went to Café Piadina. The restaurant is very quaint and has a unique lay-out! It is is comprised of two tiny storefronts across the (walking) street from each other. One is where you order food and had a small amount of seating, and the one across the way also has some seats but is again small. But on the sidewalk in front of each are little stools, tables, and pillows to extend the seating options, and this is where we sat to eat our croissants and drink our cappuccinos until the beating sun drove us away. This restaurant is basically strewn across a walking street with the two buildings bookending it!
You know how there are often photos of locals in European countries sitting outside buildings just hanging out and looking at ease with life? Sitting on the tiny stools and pillows eating breakfast and sipping at our cappuccinos made us feel like we had joined that lifestyle, and it was glorious.
The menu was short but it was all we needed. You could get croissants plain, with nutella, with ham and cheese, and some other light options. They had a meal deal that included a croissant, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice. After ordering inside, the food is served to guests whereever they've found a place to sit.
Lindsey had been fighting a sore throat since the prior day and Dustin wasn’t feeling all that great either, so we took the morning to relax back at our apartment and ensure we were feeling up for exploring. That is always a tough decision for us - to determine whether to push ourselves while traveling so that we can see more sites or whether to rest and take it easy. We usually try the rest option to stave off getting sicker, but it is usually a decision that is also disappointing, as we give up seeing something we wanted to. But in this case, a few hours of resting worked wonders and we felt ready to venture out to the walled fortress city of Mdina, about a 20-minute car ride away.
The limestone walls of Mdina are both an architectural and artistic marvel.
Exploring the Walled City of Mdina
an overview of mdina and tips for your visit
Lion statues keep watch from the gates of Mdina.
We again used eCabs (Malta’s version of Uber/Lyft) to get there much faster than if we’d tried public transportation. Mdina, known as the Silent City, was the old capital of Malta before the Knights of St. John shifted their capital to Valletta, along the coast. It acquired the Silent City moniker after it became a virtual ghost town with the movement of the capital city. That said, it isn’t truly a ghost town today, and in fact around 250 people live in the city. Other than cars permitted to the small number of residents or emergency vehicles, Mdina is a car-free city. Between the absence of automobile noises and the culture of quiet that visitors are also expected to respect, Mdina does actually live up to its Silent City reputation. The best way to truly experience that silence is to wander its streets after sunset when there are only infrequent lanterns lighting the dark alleyways and very few people are out and about.
Mdina is relatively small – 0.3 squared miles – with the impressive Mdina City Gate at its entrance, a rabbit warren of adorable streets and alleyways, and some museums plus St. John’s Cathedral and its affiliated museum. Given its size, some people visiting spend just a quick hour or so in the city, which is certainly fine if that’s all the time you have, but we would recommend spending about half a day. If you can schedule your trip to visit Mdina later in the day, you will enjoy the changing colors as the sun starts to dip in the sky and creates interesting, warm hues of color in the limestone city. And like I already said, wandering the city at night is a unique experience - I’m not going to lie, it was a little creepy - and one where you can easily pretend you are walking through the streets in the Medieval Era because really not much has changed. We were in Mdina probably about 7-8 hours in total since we had both lunch and dinner in the city.
staying in mdina
While we traveled in from Valletta, for those wishing to experience a stay in the old city, there are actually a small number of historic townhouses available for rent within the city. One Instagram-famous (and yes, I shudder even writing those words!) image is a home with a blue door, overhung with a beautiful flowering plant, and that home, which also has a private pool, can be found on Airbnb (for over $500 night), though all the other properties are very affordable. View other properties either in or just outside of Mdina here on VRBO. Just outside of Mdina is the town of Rabat (whose name literally means 'suburb') that has catacombs and other spots that would be worth visiting, though we didn't have time on this trip ourselves.
lunch at fontanella tea garden in mdina
By the time we arrived in Mdina, we were famished. We figured out how to maneuver the streets to get to the back part of the city, where the restaurant we'd selected beforehand was located. Fontanella Tea Garden , recommended by our travel book, is apparently something of a tradition for people visiting Mdina. The place is a full restaurant and is known for its cakes with many interesting cake flavors and varieties. What particularly appealed to us is that it has substantial terrace seating with views extending out towards Valletta, Sliema, and other cities, all visible in the distance. While I suspect the view would be prettier in the spring when there is a little more green, we had a great vista for our meal.
We ordered the Fontanella pizza, which is topped with ham, salami, onions, and oregano. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a mix up where the kitchen didn’t put our order in, which became evident when we finally inquired after 45 minutes of no food showing up. We probably should have asked earlier but figured the kitchen was just behind because the restaurant was so busy during our visit. The staff was very quick to act and get a pizza made and to us rapidly, but the end result was that we spent more time there than we had planned so we skipped their famed cake dessert to tour the rest of the city. The pizza was delicious though, and we would definitely return to this spot!
visiting St. John’s cathedral and cathedral museum in mdina
This massive processional throne was made is 1785 by Mark Gioacchino Rapinet from Maltese silver.
We planned to visit St. John’s Cathedral and had its affilaited Cathedral Museum as a maybe on our list. However, when we got to the cathedral, they were redirecting everyone to the Cathedral Museum as the first stop for dual-tickets (which was the only option). We were happy to have time to visit both, though another couple near us clearly had no interest in the museum and wanted to go straight to the cathedral. The person selling the tickets was quite insistent that they absolutely had to go through the museum first, which I found a little odd since it wasn't a matter of payment - the couple was fine paying for the dual-ticket but didn't want to tour the museum.
The first portion of the museum contained a significant array of church paraphernalia – silver chalices, reliquaries (several with the supposed bones of saints visible through glass), and some of the most massive silver pieces (larger than us) that I have ever seen. Having learned about reliquaries in school, it was interesting to see so many different variations of these objects all in one place. While the objects were fascinating and beautiful, this obvious show of church wealth so off the beaten path (its not like we were in a major European capital city) makes it really easy to see how the Catholic church found itself head-to-head with the Reformation on the back-end of the Medieval Era!
This silver monstrance is studded with precious gems and dates from the early 1700’s.
Many exquisite chalices made from gold and silver were on display.
With an inscription of, “S Petrus Apost” this statue depicts Jesus’s apostle Peter.
The craftsmanship of this monstrance is amazing.
Nothing says creepy like a box with the skull of someone - perhaps a saint - inside. Reliquaries are a rather strange concept.
This piece of driftwood was shaped to resemble a Minotaur. Pretty neat!
In the basement of the museum was an exhibit of sculptures by local artist Anton Agius (1933-2008), who primarily worked in found pieces of wood. They were beautiful, and the setting in the basement was well done – the curved supports for the building’s foundation in the style typical of Maltese buildings were visible, the sculptures were placed in these naturally occurring spots, and on either side of the walking path was gravel – it was truly like an underground stone garden for the art.
Upstairs in the museum is a wing dedicated to Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), German Renaissance woodcut and print artist. Durer was a very influential artist of the Northern Renaissance, responsible for bringing popularity to the wood engraving and print art form and in other areas of the art world. A French family that held a rare collection of Durer’s works settled in Malta during the 17th century and later donated them to this museum in 1831, which is how this collection ended up in Malta.
In St. John’s Cathedral Museum basement you can examine the architectural roots of the museum and also check out interesting wood carvings by Anton Agius, a local artist.
In the museum courtyard we found a relaxing garden with an an old millstone.
Looking up you can see the clear attention to detail that makes this Maltese architecture really stand out.
A picture doesn’t even come close to the beauty of this circular room lined with religiously themed paintings.
Across the square, facing the church we found a cute building decorated in shades of purple.
Lindsey made a friend!
St. John’s Cathedral of Mdina looks nice on the outside but is breathtaking once you enter!
Also upstairs is a significant collection of religious artwork. By this point, we were rushed for time since the museum was about to close, so we went through the art collection a bit faster. One criticism is that the lighting in the art gallery was poor – the lights were way too bright and pointed at the art such that entire sections of the (often) large paintings were hard to see due to reflection. This made me appreciate how difficult it must be at galleries to get the right lighting to emphasize without overwhelming artwork.
All in all, we spent probably about an hour and 15 minutes at the Cathedral Museum before exiting the building to cross the square and enter St. John’s Cathedral.
I wonder how Jesus and the 12 apostles would react to see themselves painted with gold leaf embellishments.
This was a pipe organ decoration used during an earlier period in Malta.
The organ cover was intricately carved with gold leaf accents.
I just imagine her saying, “oh gross, I don’t want to see that!” This has to be one of the funniest painting’s I’ve seen in a church museum.
St. John’s Cathedral (also known as Mdina Metropolitan Cathedral and not to be confused with Valletta’s St. John’s Co-Cathedral) is the seat of the Maltese archbishop. The current church, in Baroque style, was built on the site of a predecessor church damaged by an earthquake in 1693. That earthquake was triggered by the Sicilian volcano Mount Etna. While there was significant rebuilding, the church retained some portions of the prior building. The wooden front door dates to 1535, and the oldest church bell is on the site and dates to 1370.
Like all things Baroque, the interior is utterly grand. The cathedral’s interior is visually overwhelming at first until you focus in on specific areas to really process what you are seeing before you. It is a beautiful example of this architecture and definitely worth a visit for anyone spending time in Mdina. The exterior of the cathedral is also beautiful at night when it is lit up, and so we returned during our nighttime stroll through the city later to enjoy that view of it.
An interesting feature of this cathedral and - based on our observation - others in Malta, is that the bell towers out front each have their own clock with different times on their faces. One displays the correct time; the other is incorrect. This was reportedly done to confuse the devil, who would presumably be interested in knowing what time the church’s congregants would be at service. It is a story that I guess is best taken at face value and not thought about too much since I would think the devil would still have a 50/50 chance of guessing the right time, would presumably figure out which clock was correct after spending one day observing the congregants’ activities, and if he is able to read the clocks, might just as well overhear conversations or see other timetables about when mass would be held, but who am I to judge this sneaky attempt at outsmarting the devil?
These amazing ledger stones can be see across much of the floor of St. John’s Cathedral.
Looking up at the gorgeous cupola of St. John’s Cathedral in Mdina.
Looking toward St. John’s Cathedral in Pjazza San Pawl (Saint Paul Square) Mdina.
One of several pipe organs found in St. John’s Cathedral.
St. John’s Cathedral in Mdina is 100% worth the visit!
As evening approached the lights of St. John’s Cathedral light the cupola.
Stained glass, beautiful paintings, and amazing masonry can be found in St John’s Cathedral.
Evening light illuminates the cross and cupola of St. John’s Cathedral in Mdina.
Looking out across Maltese farmland from the walls of Mdina. Valletta, Sliema, Floriana, and the other main cities can be seen merged in the distance.
exploring mdina
By the time we left the cathedral, the it was late afternoon, and the sun quickly headed for the horizon. As harsh midday sun was replaced with evening light, the city of Mdina took on the warm hues of the setting sun and the cream limestone walls developed new depths of color. We wandered the city some more to enjoy the evening lighting and snap a few pictures. For our fellow photographers out there, this is the best time to photograph Mdina, though you have to work fast because the narrow streets become shaded very quickly.
Game of Thrones fans might recognize Mesquita Square from several scenes such as the fight scene between Jamie Lannister and Ned Stark in the first season.
A selfie in the streets of Mdina, Malta.
This beautiful house in Mdina has a unique round window is accented with this amazing flowering Bougainvillea vine.
The hanging street lamps really give a feeling of antiquity to Mdina.
The walls of Mdina are roughly 16 feet thick!
It was exciting to turn every corner in Mdina. There was always something interesting to see!
The Bougainvillea vine takes a pretty home and makes it truly unique!
Wind through the narrow streets of Mdina and discover adventure at every corner.
The church of St. Peter in Chains is a tiny ancient church in Mdina.
dinner at palazzo de piro in mdina
The freshness of ingredients made this Garganelli Chicken amazing!
For dinner, we selected a restaurant next to the spot we’d eaten at for lunch that also has amazing views. Palazzo de Piro's Cafe Bistro is a quieter setting than the Fontanella Tea Garden with more space between tables and a more romantic feel, so this was a good pick for dinner.
This green pea and broad bean risotto had a deliciously robust depth of flavor.
Palazzo de Piro is the name of a building comprised of a series of townhouses dating to the mid-1500s that have been combined and renovated to house the Cafe Bistro, art galleries, and event space. When you enter from the street, the Cafe Bistro is accessible straight ahead. The restaurant has three levels of seating. We dined on the second level alongside the edge of the terrace and watched the sun set over the surrounding countryside as we ate. This restaurant is immediately next to the cathedral, so the towering dome, lit up at night, was visible from our table. You couldn't beat this view! The restaurant was also surprisingly not busy, I think because so many people visiting Mdina clear out by sunset, which is truly a missed opportunity in my view!
I ordered green pea and broad bean risotto, which was delicious, and Dustin had the Garganelli Chicken. For dessert, we split a chocolate ganache and orange cake to make up for the lack of cake at lunch.
For great food with an excellent view be sure to eat at Palazzo de Piro's Cafe Bistro.
The Mdina Gate at night makes for a dramatic photograph.
exploring mdina after dark
To walk off some of our dinner and explore Mdina by night, we wandered much of the city again after we ate. By this point, it was completely dark out, the streets were entirely lit by sporadically placed lanterns projecting soft yellow light. While there were other people out and about, too, it was overall quiet, and we could walk for quite some time without seeing anyone else down the streets. The city truly seemed to be a forgotten ghost town and was hauntingly beautiful.
Exhausted from the day, we ordered an eCabs ride right outside the city gates around 9:30 and found a car was there in a matter of minutes to take us back to our Valletta apartment. I would definitely recommend that others visit Mdina similarly – go in the afternoon so that you can see the city by day but then also explore it at dusk and after dark. Each was a different experience in terms of colors, light, and feel and with the size of the city being so small, it was very easy to explore it this way.
The streets of Mdina weren’t packed with people during the day, but at night it was practically empty.
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Check out our other posts about Malta:
Ahoy sailor!
Our next day in Malta took us across the channel to Gozo where we explored another fortified city aptly named The Cittadella.