Mdina and Rabat

My mum lived in Malta between the ages of 5 and 10 and has many happy memories from her time there. Luckily for me, this means she's been able to give me some great tips of places to visit now that I'm living here for three months! One of her top recommendations is the old walled city of Mdina, so I made sure to visit it as soon as possible.

I made use of my bus pass to get to Mdina, which was a bit of a lengthy journey when you consider the short distances involved, but that's something I'm getting used to when travelling around Malta! In any case, the destination was worth the journey.

When you approach the city from the road, you get a really amazing view of all its buildings and fortifications. If I get the chance, I'll try to come back to the area at some point before leaving Malta, in order to have a look at Mdina from a proper viewpoint (and get a better photo!).

Edit (03/08/2023): Photo taken from bus replaced by better one taken from Ta' Qali National Park!

I got off the bus in the town of Rabat and walked over to the main city gate of Mdina. This is definitely the best-known sight of the old city - apparently it was used in Game of Thrones. I've never been particularly interested in watching that TV series, but I can see why the gate was used in it, as it's so well-preserved, and really gives you the sense of walking into the past.

 

The city itself is really small and can be walked around easily. The most famous building inside is St Paul's Cathedral, which is quite close to the city gate.

All of the city's buildings are old and golden-coloured, and reflect a range of architectural influences (which is something I learnt more about later in the day). There are plenty of palaces, churches and pretty squares and passageways to see. Overall, I really enjoyed just wandering around the city and soaking in its atmosphere. While there were a fair number of tourists there, it definitely wasn't packed out, so my visit there was nice and relaxed.

The city also has a second city gate, called the Greek Gate. This one isn't quite so photogenic because there's a carpark in front of it! But it's still nice to see.

After exploring for a while, I had a nice lunch in the Mdina Experience Medieval Tavern. This restaurant really does make you feel like you've stepped into history, and it even has a gorgeous kitty!

The Mdina Experience is both a restaurant and a touristic attraction - it has a little cinema where you can watch a film about the history of Mdina, and that's what I did next! The film teaches you about all the different groups of people who ruled the city over the centuries, and there were a lot of them. I don't remember all of the information, but I remember that the city was ruled by Romans, Arabs (which is how Mdina and Rabat got their names), Normans, the Knights of St John, and the British (I think there were more rulers who I've forgotten!). That explains why you can find such a mix of cultural influences in Malta.

After my time in Mdina, I spent the rest of my day out in Rabat. I had noticed on Google Maps that there was a Roman villa (Domvs Romana) not far from the Greek Gate, so I decided to check it out. It was definitely worth visiting!

The outside of the villa is obviously a modern recreation, but inside, there are plenty of artifacts from the actual Roman era, including mosaics, statues, and much more! I've always found the Roman times to be an interesting period of history, so I really enjoyed exploring the museum, and was surprised at how good the selection of exhibits was.

There are also Roman catacombs that you can visit in Rabat, but by this point in the day, I felt all museum-ed out! But I may come back in the coming weeks depending on how much time I have.

After visiting Domvs Romana, I picked up some vegan gelato from La Brioscia gelateria and went for a walk around the town, seeing interesting sights including the Basilica of St Paul and Casino Notabile.

Overall, I had a great day enjoying the historic sights of this part of the country. One thing I like about living in Malta is that there are so many historical places here as well as beautiful beaches - two of the things that interest me most on my travels!

At the time of writing, I've just passed the halfway point of my internship and now have a little under 6 weeks left here. I've seen quite a lot of the country (and even a bit of Italy!) by this stage, but of course there's still plenty left to explore! 

Next up I'll be writing about my time in Sicily, where I also saw some fantastic historical sights!