Cities

It would be very difficult undertaking to understand the importance of the cities of Mdina, Citadel also known as Victoria in Gozo, Birgu also known as Vittoriosa and Valletta the capital city without featuring the history embraced during the centuries.

During the Bronze Age, the last period of the prehistoric times it was necessary for the people to set up their villages on top of flat topped hills.  Both Mdina and the Citadel in Gozo seem to have originated during the Bronze age period.

The City of Valletta is situated on one of the promontories jutting out into the Grand Harbour.  This tongue of land was known to the early inhabitants of Malta as Xaghriet Mewwija or inhabited promontory.  It came later known as Sheb ir-Ras meaning the light point.

As the capital of Malta, Valletta is the administrative, commercial and cultural heart of the island. The city covers an area of merely 550 square metres, but nowhere else in Malta one can find more churches, palaces and museums than in Valletta. 

Cottonera encloses the three cities of Birgu, (also known as Vittoriosa), Bormla, (also known as Cospicua), and Isla, (also known as Senglea).

When the Knights of St. John came from Rhodes to Malta in 1530, they chose Birgu, the as their new headquarters.  The ambience of Birgu underwent great change with the arrival of the Knights of St. John, so much so that it became known as “La Citta Nuova”, the Italian expression for “the New City”.

Occupying a high ridge in the middle of Malta, the old capital city Mdina owes its history to this strategic position.  This geographical prominence has, since olden times, been exploited to the best advantage. One of the most ingenious projects that made use of this high elevation was the conveyance of water from Mdina to the City of Valletta along the aqueduct built by Grand Master Wignacourt.

The story of Gozo is as engrossing as the one of Malta. No wonder this small island, known as “The Island of the Three Hills”, abounds with historically-interesting sites. Foremost among these is the Citadel, whose origin can be traced back to Phoenician settlers. Indeed, since the earliest times, this steeply rising hillock has always been regarded as symbolic of the entire island.