We learned during our trip planning that while the Maltese bus network should take you everywhere in theory, in practice the timetable is more of an indication. Not wanting to wait hours in the scorching sun, we opted for the more convenient option of taking an Uber into the interior of the island to explore Rabat and Mdina. We were surprised to find that the price was extremely reasonable, especially considering the time saved and the door-to-door convenience – so we arrived at the walls of the “Silent City” refreshed and enthusiastic.
The history of Mdina and Rabat dates back over 3,000 years, when the Phoenicians first fortified this strategically important hill. In Roman times, the city was the administrative center of the island and the seat of the governor, known as Melite. At that time, Mdina and present-day Rabat formed one large, walled city. The Roman heritage can still be admired today in the ruins of the Domus Romana, where the empire’s most beautiful and best-preserved mosaic floors testify to the luxurious life of the former aristocracy.
The city’s fate changed radically in the 9th century, during the Arab conquest, when the area of the settlement was significantly reduced in order to be defensible. The Arabs dug a deep ditch and built new walls, creating the modern Mdina (meaning “city”), while the part outside the walls was called Rabat (meaning “suburb”). Although the island was returned to the Christian world during the later Norman conquest, the Arab influence can still be seen today in Mdina’s narrow, winding street structure, which was deliberately designed to confuse invaders and keep the city cool.
During the Middle Ages, Mdina became a stronghold of the Maltese nobility, when it was given the name Città Notabile (Noble City). It was the island’s capital when the Knights arrived in 1530, but after the Order chose Birgu as its seat, Mdina’s political importance declined, but its religious and aristocratic prestige remained. After a devastating earthquake in 1693, the city was rebuilt in a magnificent Baroque style. It was then that the impressive Co-Cathedral of St. Paul took its present form, standing on the site where, according to tradition, the palace of the governor Publius was, and where the apostle St. Paul converted the islanders.
While Mdina remained a place of quiet elegance behind its walls, Rabat developed into a centre of Christian pilgrimage. Beneath the city lies Malta’s most impressive system of catacombs, the Catacombs of St. Paul and St. Agatha, which are underground burial and ritual spaces dating back to Roman times. Rabat’s most sacred site is St. Paul’s Cave, where legend has it that the apostle lived for three months after his shipwreck. Today, the contrast between the two cities gives the area its charm: the aristocratic tranquility of Mdina and the vibrant, historical religiosity of Rabat complement each other perfectly.
