Mdina, Malta – Behind the Walls of the Silent City

Perched high above the surrounding countryside, the medieval walled city of Mdina is one of the most atmospheric places in Malta.

Behind its formidable bastions lies a compact city of narrow streets, noble palaces and secluded courtyards, where centuries of history remain enclosed within walls that have guarded the centre of Malta for generations.

Known today as the Silent City, Mdina has only a small resident population and remarkably little traffic within its historic centre. Its maze of twisting lanes, high limestone facades and quiet passages creates an atmosphere quite unlike Malta’s busier towns and cities.

Yet the silence conceals an extraordinarily long history.

Mdina has occupied this commanding position since the Bronze Age. Its elevated location, surrounded by open countryside and naturally suited to defence, made it an obvious place for settlement. When Phoenician colonists arrived in Malta during the eighth century BCE, the existing community grew considerably in importance. By the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, the settlement had expanded far beyond the boundaries of the present walled city.

During Roman governance, its name was Melite.

Roman Melite was considerably larger than modern Mdina, extending into what is now neighbouring Rabat. Archaeology has revealed substantial houses decorated with mosaics, together with sculptures and evidence of public buildings. Heritage Malta describes the ancient city as stretching from the acropolis and temple precinct within present-day Mdina towards the area now occupied by Rabat.

Fragments of this Roman world still survive.

Just beyond the walls of Mdina stands the Domvs Romana, where elaborate mosaics and marble sculptures provide a glimpse of the wealth enjoyed by some inhabitants of ancient Melite. Discoveries within Mdina itself include evidence of temples and other monumental structures, much of which now lies hidden beneath the medieval and Baroque city.

The Roman city is also connected with one of Malta’s most enduring religious traditions.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul was shipwrecked on Malta around 60 CE while being transported as a prisoner to Rome. During his stay he was received by Publius, described in the biblical account as the leading man of the island, whose father Paul is said to have healed.

Maltese tradition later identified Publius as the Roman governor of Melite and the first Bishop of Malta. Tradition also holds that the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul in Mdina occupies the area where the residence of Publius once stood and where Paul may have been received. The historical evidence from Christianity’s earliest centuries in Malta is limited, but the story has remained deeply woven into the identity of Mdina.

The city changed profoundly after the end of Roman rule.

Byzantines controlled Malta before Arab forces conquered the islands in 870 CE. During the centuries that followed, the ancient city was drastically reduced in size and strengthened as a defensive settlement.

It was during this period that much of Mdina’s distinctive urban character emerged.

Its name derives from the Arabic medina, meaning city, and the network of winding lanes and narrow passages enclosed within the walls reflects patterns associated with medieval Islamic urban design. Rather than broad, straight avenues, streets turn unexpectedly, divide into smaller alleys, and disappear between high walls. This layout, created in part for shade, privacy, and defence, remains one of Mdina’s defining characteristics.

Following the Norman conquest of Malta, Latin Christian rule became firmly established. Mdina continued as the political and administrative centre of the islands, while its importance as the seat of Malta’s bishop strengthened during the medieval period. Noble families established residences within its walls, and the city became associated with Malta’s aristocracy.

In later centuries Mdina acquired another name: Città Notabile, the Noble City.

The title suited a place whose streets were lined with the residences of some of Malta’s most prominent families. Even after political power gradually shifted elsewhere, the old city retained its association with nobility, tradition, and the Church.

When the Knights of the Order of Saint John arrived in Malta in 1530, they chose the harbour city of Birgu rather than inland Mdina as their principal base. Following the Great Siege of 1565 and the construction of Valletta, Malta’s political centre moved permanently towards the coast.

Mdina ceased to be the capital in the practical sense, but it did not lose its importance.

Its ancient walls continued to enclose noble houses, religious institutions and memories reaching back far beyond the arrival of the Knights.

The greatest transformation of the city visible today came after disaster.

On 11 January 1693, a powerful earthquake centred around Sicily struck Malta and severely damaged Mdina. The medieval Cathedral of Saint Paul suffered badly, and the decision was made to construct a new cathedral under Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà. The new Baroque building was largely completed by 1702 and consecrated the following year; its dome was finished in 1705.

Mdina’s centre is now dominated by the cathedral.

Its imposing facade opens onto Saint Paul’s Square, while its great dome rises above the surrounding rooftops and can be seen from far beyond the city walls. Inside, elaborate chapels, marble tombstones and artworks reflect Mdina’s long-standing role as the ecclesiastical heart of Malta.

The rebuilding that followed the earthquake also gave Mdina much of its elegant Baroque character.

One of the finest examples is Palazzo Vilhena, commissioned in 1724 by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena and designed by the French architect Charles François de Mondion. Its restrained but imposing Baroque façade stands immediately inside the city, and today houses Malta’s National Museum of Natural History.

The result is a city where different historical periods remain interwoven.

Its narrow street pattern recalls the Arab and medieval city; noble palaces preserve the memory of Malta’s aristocratic families, while Baroque churches and residences transformed parts of Mdina after the earthquake. Beneath them lie still older traces of Phoenician and Roman Melite.

It’s possible that some aspects of that ancient city will remain a mystery.

Modern Mdina stands directly upon its predecessors, and excavation beneath a living historic city is necessarily limited. Roman buildings and streets undoubtedly survive below later structures, leaving parts of ancient Melite hidden beneath palaces, churches, and quiet courtyards. Heritage Malta has described the archaeology of the area as containing significant unanswered questions about the extent and appearance of the Roman city.

Perhaps that hidden history contributes to Mdina’s fascination.

Passing through its monumental gate and into the narrow streets, the modern world seems to recede surprisingly quickly. Decorative balconies project from limestone facades; elaborate door knockers guard the entrances of old houses, and side streets lead towards small chapels or enclosed courtyards.

Yet Mdina does not need grand monuments at every turn.

Much of its character comes from the city itself: the scale of the streets, the thickness of its walls and the feeling of being enclosed within a place that has repeatedly changed while retaining the same commanding position above Malta.

From the bastions, the reason for that position becomes immediately clear.

The land falls away below the fortified city, opening broad views across much of the island. What today provides an impressive panorama once gave Mdina a strategic advantage, allowing those within its walls to watch the surrounding countryside and detect approaching danger.

The same position that attracted inhabitants in the Bronze Age continued to shape the city thousands of years later.

Mdina was placed on Malta’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 1998. The nomination recognises the exceptional continuity of a fortified settlement whose history stretches from the Bronze Age through Phoenician, Roman, Arab and medieval occupation into the Baroque period.

Today, Mdina’s title, the Silent City, feels entirely fitting. Yet behind its quiet streets and fortified walls lies more than two thousand years of history.

From its ancient position high above Malta, the past still feels remarkably close.

View a selection of images of Mdina.

All images, text and content © Steven Sklifas.