Stop 12 of 15

Strait Street

Duels, jazz and the Royal Navy

Narration · 3 min

Have it read to you while you look at the thing itself, hands in pockets.

3 of 3 free listens remaining · unlock every tour

Guide to Strait Street

Triq id-Dejqa, Strait Street, is the narrowest street in Valletta's grid and for most of the city's history it was where Valletta did what it preferred not to do in public. Duels under the Knights, sailors' bars under the British, and — after thirty shuttered years — wine bars and live jazz again.

The duelling street

The Order banned duelling, and the ban was unenforceable among several hundred armed young aristocrats with a strong sense of honour and little to do between campaigns. So a concession was made: if you must fight, fight here, where the walls are close enough to keep the audience small and the affair private.

It was reportedly the only street in Valletta where a duel was tolerated. Standing at one end, note how little room there is to retreat.

The Gut

Through most of the twentieth century the Grand Harbour was home to the British Mediterranean Fleet, and every arrival put thousands of sailors ashore with money and an evening to spend. The street became the Gut: bars end to end, music halls and dance halls, boxing and fighting, and a live scene strong enough to pull jazz players in from across the Mediterranean.

Nearly every doorway along it was a bar with a name and a reputation. When the Royal Navy left Malta in 1979 the Gut died almost overnight, and the street spent three decades shuttered and peeling.

Now

Over the past decade it has come back as wine bars, small restaurants and live music, with tables squeezed into the narrow strip between the walls. It is the best part of Valletta after dark.

Look up as you walk: the ghosts of painted bar signs are still legible on some of the upper walls.

What to look at

  • Faded painted bar names and numbers on the upper walls
  • The width — hold your arms out and you can nearly touch both sides in places
  • Iron balconies and washing lines: this is still a residential street as well as a nightlife one

Practical

Best time
Quiet and photogenic by day; the bars open from early evening, busiest Thursday to Saturday.
Note
Steep steps at the lower end — the street steps down the ridge.

Walk to stop 13

Follow Strait Street back towards the city gate end for about two minutes, then turn right into Old Theatre Street. A short way along on your left is a modest doorway with a canopy and a small box office.

About 3 min · 220 m