Day Trip to Mdina and Rabat

Friday March 9 was sunny all day with a high of 18C- the warmest day so far.  The outdoor bus terminal in Valletta is only about 5 minutes from the apartment.  The fare is only 1.50 euros to almost anywhere on the island.  We caught the bus to the historic centres of Mdina and Rabat, about 35 minutes from Valletta.

On the way to catch the bus, we passed another temporary sculpture.  These are all part of a project supported by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.

"The whole cow sells.  Different people have different tastes; what one person may like another might not".

The bus ride took us out in the country.  More green than in Valletta.

View from the bus...

We got out at Mdina, a hilltop walled medieval city with a number of historic mansions of Maltese nobility.  Outside the city walls is the separate adjoining town of Rabat which we also visited.  Mdina only has a full time population of about 300 and Rabat has a population of about 11, 500.  The citadel of Mdina was fortified from around 1000 BC when the Phoenicians built a protective wall and called their settlement Malet, meaning "place of shelter."  The Romans followed and then it was given its present name when the Arabs arrived in the 9th century- medina is Arabic for walled city.  They built the walls and dug a deep moat between Mdina and its surrounding suburbs (rabat in Arabic).  The moat has recently been landscaped to become a garden.

Mdina was the former capital of Malta and home to the aristocracy of the day.  Its lost its status as capital when the Knights of the Order of St John took over Malta in 1530 and moved the capital to Vittoriosa, one of the Three Cities across the Grand Harbour from Valletta.  The rebuilt city of Valletta became the capital in 1571.

Today, because of the peaceful stillness of its ancient streets after dark, Mdina is known as the Silent City.  However, even during the daytime, the narrow streets were very deserted and quiet.

Garden in moat outside walls of Mdina

Plaque commemorating Mdina Gate dating to 1724

                                                               About to enter Mdina

View of the gate to Mdina

The Museum of Natural History was very close to the gate.  We didn't go it, but it was a lovely building.

Museum of Natural History

We meandered through the quiet streets of Mdina.  It is a small city and easy to navigate.

Quiet narrow, well maintained streets of Mdina

A tree grows in Mdina

Another narrow interesting street

We stopped at Xpresso Cafe in the Palazzo de Piro for a coffee.   We went up to the second floor where the view was spectacular.  The Palazzo de Piro is an 18th century palazzo that has been restored as a cultural centre.

View from the Palazzo de Piro

Alain with a macchiato

Espresso for me-- so nice to be sitting outside in early March

Definitely Malta's silent city

Beautiful old houses

We stopped at the Museum of St. Paul's Cathedral which is housed in a baroque 18th century palace originally used as a seminary.  It was built in 1733-40. There are many religious artifacts, a remarkable coin collection, lots of silver, paintings and some prints by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer.

Outside of Cathedral Museum

Part of a collection of 15 silver statues made between 1741-43 for the Co-Cathedral of St John in Valletta.  The French had confiscated these statues and were about to melt them down. Upon intervention of a Bishop, they were exchanged for other silver objects d'art.

Alain and an old coach. 

There was a newer coin in the collection commemorating the Malta Summit of 1989 between George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Virgin and Child- Circle of Hans Memling 15th century

St. Peter - Anonymous 16th century

St. Paul Polyptych - Circle of  Luis Borrassa- 14th century- once adorned the high altar in the Cathedral

We then crossed the street to visit St. Paul's Cathedral.  It is said to be built on the site of the villa belonging to Publius, the Roman governor of Malta who welcomed St. Paul in 60 AD.  The original Norman church was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 and the new church was designed by one of Malta's finest architects at that time, Lorenzo Gafa.  Gafa did not see it finished as he died before it was inaugurated in 1702.  The Cathedral pays homage to famous Maltese bishops and the 134 marble tombstones are of venerated clerics.  Much different that St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta which celebrates the Knights.

There are two large paintings in the Cathedral by Mattia Preti- The Conversion of St. Paul (the altarpiece) and the Shipwreck of St. Paul.

Outside of St. Paul's Cathedral

Sanctuary

The Conversion of St. Paul- Mattia Preti

Beautiful stained glass window

Ceiling detail

The marble tombstones were very interesting.  We were surprised to see tombstones with recent dates-- the one below was for a cleric who died in 1996.

Another recent tombstone

Detail of a corner on a nearby building

There weren't too many tourist shops---but there was one Maltese Falcon.

A number of stores feature Valletta or Mdina glass.  I liked the glass balloons.

We stopped for lunch at Fontanella Tea Gardens which had a wonderful setting in the hills.  Alain and I shared a ftira (traditional Maltese bread sandwich with tuna, olives, beans and tomato sauce) and a lovely salad.  The place was packed.  Very popular spot.

Our lunch

Part of the restaurant-- we were in a section to the left of this picture-- lovely orange tree on the main floor

We wandered some more and came across the Mdina Town Hall.

Quiet please!

We left the walled city of Mdina and walked for a few minutes through a small garden and outdoor bus terminal to nearby Rabat.

1983 sculpture of a couple by Maltese sculptor Anton Agius (1933-2008)

The main street of Rabat had amazing decorations.  We found out that the city is preparing for the Feast of St. Joseph which is held on March 19.  It is a public holiday in Malta. 

Many of these decorations on the main street

Very decorative

Sepia version on my camera

In colour

St. Paul's Church and Grotto- built in 1675

We stopped at a popular confectionary called Parruccan which sold traditional Maltese cakes and nougat.  We bought a few traditional fig rolls and date rolls to take back to the apartment.

Parruccan-- delicious Maltese treats

We bought a few of these traditional treats

We stopped for a coffee at Grotto coffee shop near St. Paul's Church and the Grotto.  They were serving beans from Coffee Circus, a place in a nearby town we had heard about.

Alain with another macchiato

Sign outside Grotto coffee in Rabat

We walked back to the Rabat bus stop and luckily got seats for the return trip.  It took about 40 minutes as there was a lot of traffic just outside Valletta.  The public transit system is very good and well signed.  However, the busses to nearby towns are full and this is still the off-season.

Fountain just outside Valletta City Gate

We rested up and then went for dinner at Lapira Maltese Kitchen, the small family-run restaurant where we had an excellent Maltese soup for lunch on Wednesday.

Inside restaurant-- 8 Spanish women came in later to celebrate a birthday

I had been wanting to have rabbit, which is a Maltese specialty.  The rabbit was very tender and the sauce terrific - lots of rosemary, carrots, fava beans, onions and wine.  There was a large plate of vegetables for both of us-- Alain had swordfish.  We chatted with the owner who has been in business for 10 years.  Many years ago, his father had a wine bar in Valletta.   He treated us to a limoncello for a digestif.

The rabbit.... yum

On the way back to the apartment, we stumbled upon these two great notices on the wall of a building on a nearby street.

Another great day in Malta.  Tonight there is live gypsy jazz in the street outside our apartment for the gin bar located below.  Actually very nice-- it will end by around 11:00 p.m.