Malta Art, Architecture & Culture: the back story

About Malta Art, Architecture & Culture: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Malta Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Malta is built of its own stone. The soft, honey-coloured globigerina limestone, quarried on the islands, takes carving beautifully and glows gold in the evening light, and it gives Valletta, Mdina and the villages their warmth. On this stage the Knights and their artists created one of the great baroque ensembles of Europe.

A city of stone

Valletta was laid out from 1566 on a grid across the Sceberras peninsula, and UNESCO lists the whole city. Its closed timber balconies, painted green, red or blue, are one of the sights of the street; the parish churches of the villages compete with each other in the size of their domes, like the Rotunda of Mosta.

Caravaggio and Preti

Caravaggio came to Malta in 1607 and painted the Beheading of St John the Baptist for the oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral, where it still hangs. The cathedral’s painted vault is the work of Mattia Preti, the Calabrian painter who spent much of his life on the island (visitmalta.com).

Look up: at the timber balconies, the carved corbels and the domes of the parish churches.

The museums

MUŻA, the National Community Art Museum, opened in late 2018 in the Auberge d’Italie, built for the Italian knights in the late sixteenth century; it tells the story of art in Malta from its prehistory to today (heritagemalta.mt). The National Museum of Archaeology, in the Auberge de Provence, holds the finds from the temples, among them the Sleeping Lady.

Theatre and music

The Manoel Theatre in Valletta has a history that goes back to 1732 (teatrumanoel.mt), and Gozo has two opera houses in Victoria, the Astra and the Aurora. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra performs across the islands.

Festa

In summer every village celebrates its patron saint with a festa: band marches, fireworks, decorated streets and a procession with the statue of the saint. Check the parish and local council for dates.

Our advice: see the Caravaggio first thing in the morning, and book a night at the Manoel Theatre.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Malta Art, Architecture & Culture: the back story before you go.