Valletta was built from scratch in the 1560s by the Knights of St John on a bare rocky peninsula between two harbours, and it has hardly spread beyond its walls since. Its straight streets rise and fall in steps, lined with honey-coloured limestone and painted wooden balconies. Here are the facts and stories that make Malta's capital special.
10 fun facts about Valletta
- A city born from a siege: Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette laid the first stone on 28 March 1566, a few months after the Great Siege, and the new city took his name. It became the Knights' capital in 1571.
- Planned on a grid: the military engineer Francesco Laparelli, sent by Pope Pius V, laid out the straight streets, and his Maltese assistant Girolamo Cassar designed many of the first buildings.
- A tiny capital: Valletta covers only about 0.6 square kilometres and has around 5,000 residents, which makes it one of the smallest capitals in the European Union.
- A signed Caravaggio: St John's Co-Cathedral holds Caravaggio's The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, painted in 1608 while he was in Malta. It is the only painting he is known to have signed.
- A city that is all heritage: UNESCO listed the whole of Valletta as a World Heritage Site in 1980, and in 2018 it was European Capital of Culture.
- A cannon at noon: the Saluting Battery below the Upper Barrakka Gardens still fires a gun at midday every day except Sunday, a ritual inherited from the Knights and the British.
- A theatre from 1731: the Manoel Theatre, built under Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, is one of the oldest working theatres in Europe.
- A medal for a whole island: in April 1942, at the height of the bombing, King George VI awarded the George Cross to the people of Malta. The cross still appears on the Maltese flag.
- A gate by Renzo Piano: the stone-clad Parliament building at the City Gate, designed by Renzo Piano, opened in 2015. Next to it, the ruins of the Royal Opera House, destroyed in an air raid in 1942, are now an open-air venue.
- A fountain that waited 59 years: the Triton Fountain outside the City Gate, by the sculptor Vincent Apap, was first switched on in 1959. After its bronzes were restored in Florence, it was finally inaugurated officially in 2018.
The Great Siege of 1565
In May 1565 a huge Ottoman fleet landed on Malta to drive out the Knights of St John, who had ruled the islands since 1530. The Knights, led by the seventy-year-old Grand Master Jean de Valette and fighting alongside Maltese militia and soldiers, were badly outnumbered. Fort St Elmo, at the tip of the peninsula where Valletta stands today, held out for about a month before it fell in June. The forts of Birgu and Senglea across the harbour survived months of bombardment and assaults, and when a relief force arrived from Sicily in September, the Ottomans sailed away. Malta still marks the end of the siege on 8 September, and the donations that poured in from Catholic Europe helped pay for a new fortified city on the peninsula.
The Three Cities, explained
Across the Grand Harbour lie Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua, known together as the Three Cities. They are older than Valletta: Birgu was the Knights' first base, and its fort was the heart of the defence in 1565. From the Upper Barrakka Gardens you can see all three. To get there, take the lift down to the waterfront and cross by ferry, or by a dgħajsa, the traditional painted water taxi.
What to eat in Valletta
- Pastizzi: flaky pastry parcels filled with ricotta or mushy peas, sold hot from small shops all day.
- Ħobż biż-żejt: Maltese bread rubbed with tomato and filled with tuna, capers, olives and onion, a classic picnic lunch.
- Stuffat tal-fenek: rabbit slowly stewed in wine and garlic, often called the national dish.
- Imqaret: diamond-shaped pastries filled with dates and fried, sold from street stalls and at festas.
- Kinnie and Cisk: Kinnie is a bittersweet soft drink flavoured with bitter oranges and herbs, and Cisk is the local lager. Both are made in Malta.
Good to know before you go
- St John's Co-Cathedral asks visitors to cover shoulders and knees and to avoid stiletto heels, which damage the marble tombstones that pave the floor.
- Valletta is steep, and many side streets are stairs. Wear good shoes and plan your route downhill where you can.
- Ferries link Valletta with Sliema across Marsamxett Harbour and with the Three Cities, and a fast ferry runs to the island of Gozo.
- Mdina, the walled old capital in the centre of the island, is an easy half-day trip by bus.
Explore Valletta with World City Trail
Our Valletta scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around three hours, with about 45 minutes of walking, and its stops include the Triton Fountain, the Parliament building and the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Valletta scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.