Detailed Overview
Once you enter Mdina with your tour guide, rest assured that you will not miss out any sightseeing. Mdina is beyond doubt one of Malta’s highlights. It is like a miniature city, except that it is not in miniature at all but it is fortified citadel with all that a capital city could ask for! As we take on this Mdina walking tour, we will have the opportunity to behold all the landmarks of the city (from the outside).
The first enchanting landmark is just right to the Main Gate, the Vilhena Palace, a beautiful Baroque palace with a U-shaped forecourt. Another captivating Baroque building is the Corte Capitanale (Old Law Courts).
On this Mdina walking tour, we will stroll through Mesquita Square, a charming medieval square complete with an ancient well that is straight out of the storybook. Many ‘Game of Thrones’ will recognise the square as one that was used in the backdrop of some of the scenes. This comes as no surprise as here, time seems to have stood still. Film buffs will also recognise Cathedral Square, where shots from the films The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and Napoleon (2023) were filmed.
On this two-hour walking tour, our tour guide will lead you along Villegaignon Street. This street is considered as the main street of this magnificent street, and it houses several palaces that were the homes of the Maltese nobility. The Iguanez and the Testaferrata aristocratic mansions are two of the palaces that cannot be ignored. Big imposing doors and equally huge knockers, arched balconies, ornate carvings and symmetry all command attention! Of equal rank is Palazzo Falzon, a medieval townhouse that was the residence of the first Grand Master who set foot on the island of Malta. On the Mdina walking tour, we will also check out the Carmelite Church, a rich baroque and ornately decorated church that houses works of art by notable artists.
No tour to Mdina is complete without a taking in the sweeping view from the bastions and on our walk we will also discover the Greek’s Gate and the New Gate that was opened when the railway was first introduced to Malta.
We will end the Mdina walking tour outside of the fortified walls in the neighbouring suburb Rabat. In antiquity, the town of Rabat was within the walls of the Roman city ‘Melite’. As we explore the winding, narrow streets of the old quarter on our way to the Parish Church of St. Paul, we will discover Maltese vernacular architecture. Legend has it that St. Paul, who is considered the Patron Saint of Malta, lived in a grotto over which the present church was built.
