Mdina, Malta

Mdina is a fortified city in the northern part of Malta. It is also known as the Old City, which served as the country’s capital until the medieval period. The city is still confined within its walls, with its few hundred inhabitants, including the cute cat that serves as a lookout at the gate.

The walled city is small enough to walk around in just a few hours, including random stops to take pictures. However, you are not constrained to staying only within the walled city because Rabat, the town on the other side of the walls, also has a lot to discover. The island is rich in Roman history, and just a few blocks away from the Mdina gate, you’ll find Domvs Romana, an open-air remains of a 1st-century BCE Roman house and a museum showcasing mosaics from the site. There is also St. Paul’s Catacombs, an ancient Roman underground cemetery complex. Both of which we visited.

We spent the whole day in the city, with a huge part of it allotted to finding the bus station going back to Valletta. And yes, we found it. 😉