Walking Through History: Three Cities in One Day
Limber up for a historic 10,000 steps down winding narrow lanes, atop fortifications and along the southern shores of Grand Harbour with picturesque sights round every corner.
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If you struggle to cross from one side of town to another back home, then the idea of walking through three cities, no less, in one single day, might seem preposterous. But that's the upside of visiting a small island… although some places are best savoured slowly and calmly rather than in a rush.
In order to appreciate the full breadth and grandeur of the eponymous Grand Harbour and the Three Cities that abut it, you first need to head to Upper Barrakka Gardens in the capital Valletta on the opposite shore. From the terrace of the public garden, the cities of Senglea (Isla in Maltese) and Vittoriosa (Birgu), with Fort St Angelo on its tip, reach out across the harbour like protective arms with Cospicua (Bormla) tucked in between them and the port of Kalkara peeking out from behind Vittoriosa.
You are looking at one of the most densely populated areas on the island, but also one of the oldest inhabited regions as that cacophony of buildings, seemingly crammed on top of each other without any breathing room, stand as witnesses to centuries of history. Suffice to say that the fort you see today with the flag of the Knights of St John fluttering on top is said to have been built on the site of a megalithic complex dating back to 3,600 BC. But more on that later.
What to look for
- Upper Barrakka Gardens: Public garden offering a panoramic terrace over Grand Harbour and the Three Cities.
- Vittoriosa (Birgu): Original Knights' capital from 1530; entered via Couvre Port. Hosts the Collachio, palaces, auberges and 11 churches.
- Senglea (Isla): One of the Three Cities; reached via the bridge over the creek. Home to the Gardjola lookout.
- Cospicua (Bormla): Third of the Three Cities, tucked between Vittoriosa and Senglea. Home to the Collegiate Church of the Immaculate Conception (parish since 1586).
My favourite way to reach the Three Cities, collectively known as Cottonera after Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner, who ordered the strengthening of the fortifications around them, is by ferry or water taxi from Valletta. The 15-minute crossing gives you a flavour of the harbour area, and by the time you reach the other side, your camera finger might already have had a pretty good warm-up. With picturesque views and historic buildings all around you, the tricky bit will be to decide where to start from.
On the day of my walking tour, I am dodging rain showers, so I decide to forego the romantic ferry crossing and drive straight up the hill just outside the entrance to Vittoriosa. The iconic Café Riche, with an original horse-drawn omnibus (minus the horse these days) parked on its roof, has been greeting visitors to the city since 1933 and is still run by the same family.
Just a few steps in and I stop again to gawk at the first of many outstanding views, giving me a sense of the mighty 500-year-old fortifications. Chosen by the Knights of St John as their capital city when they arrived on the island in 1530, Vittoriosa is accessed via a complex gate structure, including Couvre Port, which now houses the Malta at War Museum, complete with a labyrinth of air-raid shelters dug out in World War II. To say that the streets are lined with history would not be an overstatement.
I am walking in the footsteps of the great and the good of Malta's most prominent historic personalities as this used to be their home, the Collachio, once upon a time marked by bollards and out of bounds for common mortals. This is where the Knights of St John built their palaces, auberges and even a state-of-the-art hospital. Most of those buildings still stand today and you could easily spend a morning just wandering around the picturesque alleyways.
Barely a couple of hundred metres further along the street, the Inquisitor's Palace rises on the right across the road from the church dedicated to the Annunciation, which is run by the Dominican Order and where hundreds of people had sought refuge from the continuous battering from the Turkish armada during the Great Siege of 1565.
There are no less than 11 churches and chapels in Vittoriosa alone, not to mention other religious sites and cemeteries that have been lost to time. The original 15th-century church was reconstructed after being severely damaged during an air raid on 19th January 1941. After ending up pretty much homeless during the war, the Dominican friars lived in the Inquisitor's Palace for 10 years. The palace was the seat of the Inquisition in Malta from 1574 to 1798, and today, is both a historic house museum as well as the national ethnography museum. Described by Heritage Malta as an "architectural gem", and there are plenty of those around here, the palace was designed "to generate awe" towards a powerful ecclesiastical diplomat. The residence includes the prison cells, which still bear the prisoners' graffiti etched in the stone walls.
While I am wearing comfortable trainers, I am resigned to the fact that this walk will not be a speedy one if I want to take in all this history. However, as I look up at the ominous rain clouds gathering overhead, I decide to hotfoot it across the delightful Victory Square towards the Belvedere for views across Kalkara Creek before the next shower. Somehow, the gloomy weather that day adds to the drama of the sweeping vista of Grand Harbour with the Esplora Interactive Science Centre at the former Royal Naval Hospital Bighi on the opposite shore.
I try to see if I can catch a glimpse of the film set for the sequel to the Russell Crowe film Gladiator at Rinella film studios. I get so distracted by the views that I walk straight into a deep puddle much to the entertainment of construction workers nearby. Flustered and now with wet socks, I find myself walking in the wrong direction towards Kalkara. Picturesque as that path is, I had other plans that day, so I quickly retrace my steps and walk along the waterfront to reach the aptly named Great Siege 1565 Road, leading me up to Fort St Angelo.
In a walking tour full of historic highlights, this is undoubtedly the cherry on the cake. Thanks to its position on top of a hill commanding a 360-degree view of the entire harbour, it is reasonable to assume that the site served as an important lookout since Phoenician seafarers colonised the island around 700 BC, growing to become a formal stronghold over the centuries, with the first documented reference to what was by then known as the Castrum Maris registered in 1241.
When the Knights of St John arrived in Malta in 1530, they renamed it Fort St Angelo and designated it the Grand Master's residence. It would go on to play a vital role during the Great Siege of 1565, after which Valletta was constructed on the Sciberras promontory across the harbour. When the Knights were eventually ousted from Malta by the French in 1798, it became a French stronghold until Malta became part of the British Empire in 1800. By the early 1900s, it became the headquarters and shore base of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, earning the new title of HMS Egmont. It would take until 1998, 200 years after they left Malta, for the Knights of St John to return to Fort St Angelo. This chequered history is reflected in the many layers of the fortified structure, and it is only when you stand at the top of the ramparts that you can fully grasp the significance of this site.
By then, I feel I have earned my lunch, so leaving the fort behind, I walk along the Marina Grande, packed with superyachts, some of them big enough for a helicopter to land on deck. I watch the crew of one yacht play basketball on deck next to an onboard swimming pool before settling down at a restaurant near the Malta Maritime Museum, which is currently undergoing restoration. This marina was the landing place for any visitors to the island, so it had to be majestic enough to impress them, which is why it is lined with grand buildings designed by the best architects of the day. You enter via a tall elaborate archway, high enough for processions with statues carried shoulder high.
I still have two more cities to explore and the sun, which has been teasing me from behind those clouds, has given up the game. Before leaving Vittoriosa, I walk past the 300-year-old Church of St Lawrence, with its expansive façade and the eight-pointed Maltese cross on top. It looms up behind the Freedom Monument, an elaborate roundabout on a manmade hill, commemorating the closure of the British military base in Malta on 31st March 1979, a milestone in the island's modern political history.
The path continues along the water, past more superyachts berthed where the dockyard used to be. With the dismantling of the high wall surrounding the dockyard almost 20 years ago, the waterfront was once again re-opened to public use, creating a 2.5km waterfront promenade linking Vittoriosa to Senglea via Cospicua. Only the rail tracks from the dockyard and an amusing steel sculpture remain as mementos of its former industrial life.
As I stand on the small bridge crossing over to the Senglea side of the creek I suddenly realise I had entered Cospicua and make a mental note to climb up the stairs to the imposing Collegiate Church of the Immaculate Conception, Cospicua's parish since 1586, on my way back to the car.
This is where I can finally pick up some speed and start working off that lunch as I continue along the Senglea waterfront to reach the tip of the city underneath the Gardjola gardens, with its pretty lookout. I feel like I could almost reach out and touch Valletta just across the water.
The rain has finally caught up with me. Casting one final glance at the harbour from the Gardjola lookout, I walk through the labyrinthine alleys of Senglea trying not to get distracted again as I pick my way back to the car on top of the hill in Vittoriosa.