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Valletta
Also known as Valleta, Capital of Malta, Valetta, Il-Belt Valletta, Città Umilissima, La Valleta, La Valletta, Citta Umilissima
Valletta (; , ), also known as Città Umilissima (), is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta's capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and, at just , it is the European Union's smallest capital city.
AI overview
Valletta is the capital city of Malta, located between two harbors and serving as a commercial hub for shopping, dining, and entertainment with a population of about 5,000 people. It holds the distinction of being Europe's southernmost capital and the smallest capital city in the European Union.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
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Key facts
- Settlement.name
Travel guide
Understand
Referred to colloquially as Il-Belt ("The City") in Maltese, it takes its name from its founder, Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette.
With a population of less than 5,200 in 2021, it is the least populated national capital in the European Union. The population of the urban area is 480,000 (2020), so Valletta doesn't feel like a small town. It is also the southernmost capital in the union, and one of only two without rail-based public transit (the other being Nicosia in Cyprus).
Valletta was a "European Capital of Culture" for 2018, an honour it shared with Leeuwarden.
Get around
The Valletta peninsula is only a couple of kilometres in length and so the ideal way is to do everything on foot, which enables you to take many shortcuts via stairs. However, the city is built on a ridge and is steep in parts (requiring walking up and down stairs in some places), which can be tiring. The alternative would be doing it by car, which is not ideal for visitors due to a lack of parking space, direction signs and the fact that the streets are very narrow, often one way and confusing if unfamiliar. Most of the main tourist attractions are along the main street (Triq ir-Republika), which does not involve steep hills.
Another possibility is to rent one of the horsecarts (Karozzin), but be sure to haggle over the price.
See
thumb|St. John's Co-cathedral
thumb|Fort St. Elmo
Do
thumb|St George's Square thumb|Saluting Battery thumb|View from Upper Barrakka Gardens
Buy
The main street of Valletta is Republic Street (Triq Ir-Repubblika), a busy pedestrianised zone leading down the middle of the Peninsula from the main gate down to Republic Square (Misrah ir-Repubblika). This is where many of the better shops are located, although it cannot quite compete with Sliema for clothing.
The best souvenir shop (the least worthless trinkets etc.) can be found at the Malta Experience, but there are many other reasonable souvenir shops in Valletta. At the beginning of Republic Street, there are several reasonable souvenir shops, but prices are far cheaper if you walk 20 meters down South Street (turn left if you have the bus station behind you,) which crosses Republic Street very soon after you have entered through the city gates. There is a daily market selling cheap clothing in the parallel street to Republic Street called Merchants Street (Triq il-Merkanti).
~23 min read
Article
27 sectionsContents
- History
- Order of Saint John
- French occupation and British rule
- Contemporary
- Government
- Local government
- National government
- Geography
- Climate
- Cityscape
- Neighbourhoods
- Economy
- Education
- Culture
- Saint James Cavalier
- Music
- Carnival
- Feasts
- In literature and the arts
- Twin towns – sister cities
- Transport
- Notable people
- Sports
- Further reading
- References
- Notes
- External links
Valletta (; , ), also known as Città Umilissima (), is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta's capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and, at just , it is the European Union's smallest capital city.
Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after the Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island against an Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege of Malta. The city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The city was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. The city has 320 monuments, all within an area of 0.55 square kilometres (0.21 sq mi), making it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. Sometimes called an "open-air museum", Valletta was chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2018. Valletta was also listed as the sunniest city in Europe in 2016.
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On the map
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