04-24-2016: Medieval Mdina

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We won’t soon forget this day.  It started with this glorious sunrise.

We had planned to spend the day with Carol and Joe.  They invited us to go with them to a festival in Mdina.  Unfortunately, Carol had a bit of an injury and was unable to go, so sadly, they canceled.  But, we decided to go on our own.  The festival was a medieval gala event and was not to be missed.

We got going early and took the #202 bus to Rabat, a suburb of Mdina.  This was great because the bus was essentially door-to-door.  We got on the bus right outside our flat, no transfers necessary.  And better yet, the bus was essentially empty, so we got seats for the whole trip.  It took about 45 minutes to get to Rabat, itself a a place we shall return to visit because it has several archeological sites to be explored.  But on to Mdina.

Mdina is a fortress city high on a hill, a spectacular sight as you approach from the land below.  It is Malta’s old capital.  There was a Bronze Age settlement near the city, so this area has been settled for thousands of years.  The Phoenicians, Carthagineans, Romans, Normans, and Turks all occupied Mdina and it became an important urban center.  Mdina remained the only fortified city in Malta until the 16th century.  And then Malta was given to the Knights of the Order of St. John, which diminished the importance of Mdina as the Kights settled first in Vittoriosa, and then in Valletta.

Another event changed Mdina which was an earthquack that happened in 1653.  A main street divided the city east and west.  One side of the city was built on rock, and the other on softer under structures, so half the city was destroyed during the earthquake, the side not built on bedrock.  But this was also a blessing in disguise because prior to the earthquake, the city was in significant decline from neglect.  The earthquake destroyed the cathedral, which was not acceptable to the Knights of St. John.  They began a huge building project in Mdina and so the city was returned to its former glory, including a big cathedral.

Mdina still has about 300 residents today, many who are nobles and distinguished families.  It is called the Silent City because of its narrow streets.  Motor vehicles were not permitted in the city until recently, and certainly only a handful of streets are wide enough to permit autos.  Mdina is a really beautiful place and gives a very spiritual sense when you have the narrow streets to yourself, as we did early in the morning before the crowds arrived for the festival.  It is a very wonderful and beautiful old city.

Medieval Mdina started with a fantastic procession.  All the participants were in Medieval period costumes and included servants, peasants, tradesmen, musicians, falconers, performers, soldiers, knights and noblemen and women.  It was quite a procession, especially when the horses came through.  I loved that!

Everyone in the procession entered into Archbishops Square in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral.  There, each of the groups did a little performance.  Christine fell in love with a flag performer group.

All around Mdina in the little squares were groups of the performers doing activities.  It was fascinating to see the blacksmiths and weaver working as they would have in Medieval times.

We saw several falconers with Maltese falcons and an owl.  The history of Maltese falcons involves the Knights and King Charles V of Spain.  When the Knights had to abandon their headquarters in Rhodes and were wandering around looking for a new home base, King Charles agreed to give Malta to the Knights, but with it came a price.  The Knights were required to pay rent for Malta, which was to give the king a falcon every year.  Dashiell Hammett used the concept of the Maltese falcon in his novel.

All around Mdina there were encampments and enactments of day-to-day life in Medieval times.  When we stumbled upon a square with performers that didn’t have a lot of tourists, you could really imagine what it must have been like.

I kept thinking about my brother Grant all during the day.  He would have loved being here with us.  He would have especially loved the knights and armor.

And, as a budding bagpiper, Grant would certainly have liked seeing the musical group we saw perform a couple of times during the day.  One guy played the bagpipes, but his bagpipe was electrified, so no blowing was necessary, only fingering the chanter.  He was a really fantastic player.

We had a lovely lunch in a spot with a fantastic view.  The vista showed the entire countryside with its beautiful farmland.  We could see all the way to the sea and could just make out the Carmelite dome and Anglican spire in Valletta and the Portomasso tower.

After wandering around Mdina on our own, we ended up doing a little tour with a lovely lady who really knew her stuff.  She showed us all the different architectural styles and filled us full of information about Mdini.  It was a lot of fun, especially since around every corner was some grouping of Medieval performers doing activities or processing with a band. Just fantastic!

Here are some more photos from the day.

We decided to make our way back to Sliema at about 5:00.  When we got to the bus stop, it was quite crowded and we figured that many of the people were going in our direction.  So, we decided to hop on the nearly empty bus going to the airport.  We knew we could get a bus right to our door from the airport.  Little did we know that the #201 airport bus would go hither and yon before arriving at the airport.

The 201 bus went to the west coast.  It was a great ride to Dingli and along the Dingli cliffs, rather like the white cliffs of Dover.  This is an area we plan to hike at some point.  The bus went right along the cliffs and we were able to see the bus stops that would be appropriate for our day trip to the cliffs.  We also went to the Blue Grotto, which is another great drive down to the turnaround area and back up the hill.  We went there on the hop on hop off bus with Eve and Michaela.

We eventually made it to the airport, after our tour of the southwestern part of the island.  Then we waited for the X2 bus, which did finally get us back to our area.  We walked across the street to Peppi’s, a nice pizza place.  We sat out on their deck, which was a little chilly, but was beautiful as we watched the sunset.  So our wonderful day ended with this gorgeous sight.

Medieval Mdina!  How lucky we are to be in Malta now so we could enjoy this fantastic event.