The Grand Master's Palace, 450 years of power in one block.

If you go into only one museum in Valletta besides the cathedral, make it this one: it explains who the knights were and how they ruled, and its armoury is one you do not forget.

What it is

It was the first building raised by the Order of St John in its new capital and was extended over the centuries. The grand masters lived and governed here; under the British it was the governor's palace and, in 1921, the seat of Malta's first constitutional Parliament. Today it is the seat of the Presidency of the Republic, which is why parts are sometimes closed for official events. Heritage Malta has restored it thoroughly and now more than 85% of the building can be visited; it is its most visited site, with about 300,000 people a year.

What you see

• The corridors of the main floor, with painted ceilings, coats of arms of the grand masters and the Uccelliera, the old aviary rediscovered during the restoration.
• The State Rooms: the grand master's study, the Pages' Room, the Ambassadors' Room and the Throne Room. In them is the most complete cycle of paintings of the Great Siege of 1565, by Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, and late-eighteenth-century Baroque ceilings painted in trompe l'oeil.
• The armoury, back in its original hall, the one that was the parliamentary chamber. It is one of the richest collections of weapons of a military order in the world: armour of the grand masters Alof de Wignacourt and Jean de Valette, Ottoman arms and armour and pieces of artillery.

At present the Throne Room is closed until further notice.

Opening hours, price and closures

From 1 November to 3 January it is open every day from 9:00 to 17:00, with last entry half an hour before. The summer timetable changes; check it on the Heritage Malta website. It closes on 1 January, Good Friday and 24, 25 and 31 December.

Ticket: €12 adults; €10 for ages 12 to 17 and over-60s; €8 for ages 6 to 11; free for ages 1 to 5.

There are days of partial closure for State events: the State Rooms close until 13:30 on 18 November and 2 December 2026, all day on 13 December, and the rooms and armoury from 13:00 on 16 December. In 2027 they close all day on 14 and 15 January and until 13:30 on some Wednesdays (27 January, 24 February, 17 March, 14 April, 26 May and 16 June). On those days you see only the armoury.

There is a cloakroom, baby-changing, shop, and a place to sit and have a drink. Accessibility is partial: some areas cannot be toured in a wheelchair.

How to get there

It is on St George's Square, halfway along Republic Street, five minutes' walk from the co-cathedral. Opposite is Caffe Cordina.