The Malta at War Museum, the Blitz told from one of its hardest-hit towns

Some war museums tell you about battles, others about what it was like to live through them. This one is firmly in the second camp, and its location is no accident. Birgu, the old maritime town facing Valletta, took some of the heaviest bombing of the entire war, and almost half of it was destroyed.

An 18th-century barracks with a shelter underneath

The museum is run by the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, a voluntary organisation that also looks after the Saluting Battery, the Lascaris War Rooms and Fort Rinella. It’s at Couvre Porte, the old walled entrance to Birgu, inside an 18th-century barracks that served as a police station and air raid precautions centre during the war.

What makes it special lies below. The building sits on a massive rock-cut air raid shelter that sheltered hundreds of people, now restored and included in the visit. For me that’s the reason to come.

The foundation sets out clearly why Birgu suffered so badly. The Knights set up their first convent here in 1530, before Valletta existed, directed the 1565 defence from the town, and the Royal Navy was based here between 1800 and 1979. Tucked into Dockyard Creek, it was always going to be a target.

What’s inside the Malta at War Museum?

The museum documents what the Maltese and their defenders went through during the Malta Blitz of 1940 to 1943. The collection brings together personal items, documents, medals, uniforms and weapons, and the visit is backed by period newsreels and sound, with multilingual audio guides.

The piece I wouldn’t skip is the film Malta G.C. The Crown Film Unit released it in January 1943 on the initiative of King George VI, who wanted all his subjects to see Malta’s endurance for themselves, at the moment he awarded the island the George Cross. Laurence Olivier narrates and Arnold Bax wrote the score, the Malta Suite, for it. The museum bills it as the first documentary ever made on the island, and it follows the war from Italy’s entry in 1940 to the lifting of the siege in 1942. For the wider picture, carry on with Malta in the Second World War.

Tickets, hours and the Wirt Artna pass

Adult entry from age 16 is €14, over-60s with ID pay €12, children aged 5 to 15 pay €7, and two adults with three children can go in for €28. Opening hours run from 09:30 to 17:30, last admission 17:00, every day but Sunday. Worth knowing before you arrive, the foundation is cashless and the desk only takes cards. A ticket is valid for one day, with re-entry allowed the same day, and the over-60 rate applies to international visitors too, provided you can show ID with your date of birth. Wirt Artna says it relies entirely on visitors’ support, which is one more reason I don’t begrudge the price here.

If you’re planning several Wirt Artna sites, weigh up its Heritage Pass. For €50 a head, or €95 for a family, you get seven days from first use and one visit to each of its eight sites, with the Saluting Battery, the Lascaris War Rooms and Fort Rinella in Kalkara on the list. It’s a separate product from Heritage Malta’s Multisite Pass, and that one won’t get you in here. I’ve run the numbers on both in Malta’s sightseeing passes.

The museum also sells guided tours of the War H.Q. Tunnels, opened in 1940 for the combined headquarters of all three services and used by NATO until 1977. They’re €17 per adult and €7 per child. The foundation’s own pages disagree on where the tour starts, so confirm it when you book.

Getting there and how long to allow

From Valletta terminus, buses 2 and 3 stop right beside the Couvre Porte gate. The alternative is the ferry from Lascaris Quay, which you reach by taking the Upper Barrakka lift down. It runs every 15 minutes and the museum is about 10 minutes’ walk from where it lands. The details are on the Valletta ferries page.

The museum suggests at least an hour. I’d set aside ninety minutes, as the film and the shelter both need time. I’d put it after Fort St Angelo in Birgu, which took 69 direct hits in the same war.