Stop 07 of 12
The Old Prison
Where a future Grand Master did four months
Free to hear. You have 3 of three free stops left, on any tours.
Guide to The Old Prison
A barrel-vaulted corridor with cells off it, in use from the sixteenth century until 1962, and covered in graffiti cut by the men held in them. One of those men was Jean Parisot de Valette, twenty-seven years before he commanded the defence of Malta.
The walls
Ships under full sail, crosses, hands, names, dates, and rows of tally marks counting off days. The quality ranges from scratched to remarkable, and every mark was cut by a man with nothing to do and something sharp to do it with.
Look particularly at the ships. These were islanders, and a good number of them had spent their working lives at sea; given empty days and a stone wall, what they drew was the means of getting off it.
De Valette's four months
A young French knight of the Order was sent down for four months in 1538, having struck a layman — a serious offence against the discipline of the Order. The knight was Jean Parisot de Valette.
He would command the island's defence during the Great Siege twenty-seven years afterwards, and lay the first stone of the capital that carries his name the year after that. The man commemorated by a statue in Valletta passed four months of his forties in this room, disgraced.
What to look at
- Ships carved in astonishing detail — rigging, gunports, flags
- Tally marks counting off sentences
- The cell that tradition assigns to de Valette
Practical
- Site
- Open daily; usually included in a combined Citadella museums ticket.
- Time
- Twenty minutes is enough, but take a torch-free look at the darker walls.
Walk to stop 08 · The Grain Silos
Remain on the public lane near St John’s Cavalier. The silos belong to the managed Gunpowder Magazine / Lower Battery complex. Check the entrance signs if you want to visit; the route does not depend on the complex being open.
This connection includes mapped steps. It is not a step-free route.
About 1 min · 13 m
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