Stop 06 of 10
Bastion Square
Half of Malta, from a wall
Narration · 3 min
Have it read to you while you look at the thing itself, hands in pockets.
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Guide to Bastion Square
From the wall at Bastion Square most of Malta is laid out below you — the plain, the villages on the far ridges, the dome of Mosta, and on a clear day the coast of Sicily ninety kilometres away. The view is also the explanation for why the city is here, and for why it went quiet.
Why this ridge mattered
Mdina occupies the highest usable ground near the middle of the island. Anyone landing on the northern coast was visible from this wall long before they arrived; the Standard Tower by the gate took the news and passed it on.
For most of Maltese history, whoever held this ridge held the island, which is why every power that took Malta took Mdina first.
And why the Knights ignored it
The Order that arrived in 1530 was a naval power, and a fleet needs deep water rather than a view. Its knights settled at Birgu on the Grand Harbour instead, leaving the old capital in the hands of a Maltese nobility that had shown little enthusiasm for their arrival.
Mdina kept its title and its parliament and lost its purpose. The silence the city is now famous for started at that moment.
The cake
The terrace below the wall belongs to a café that has been here for decades and is known across Malta for its chocolate cake. Whether it is as good as the view is a question the island has never settled.
What to look at
- The dome of Mosta, a squat grey hemisphere on the middle ridge
- St Paul’s Bay and the north coast, where the shipwreck is traditionally placed
- The line of the old Roman city below you, still legible in the field boundaries
Practical
- Best light
- Late afternoon, with the sun behind you.
- Refreshment
- The bastion café is the obvious pause. Expect a queue in season.
Walk to stop 07
Turn back into the city and take the lanes south-west, keeping the wall on your right. In four or five minutes you reach a second, much plainer gate in the wall.
About 5 min · 380 m