Casa Rocca Piccola

Casa Rocca Piccola was built in the 1580s for a knight of the Order and has been in the same family since the eighteenth century, who still live in part of it. Tours go through around a dozen rooms furnished as a working house rather than a museum arrangement: family silver, a collection of costume, the dining room, the chapel and the library. Beneath the building are air raid shelters cut into the rock just before the Second World War, open on the same visit.

History

The house was built in 1580 by Admiral Don Pietro la Rocca, one of two he built in Valletta, and maps of the time call it la casa con giardino, the house with the garden, as Valletta houses were not normally allowed gardens. It was divided into two smaller houses in the late 18th century and now holds the de Piro family archives and Malta's largest private collection of antique costumes (Wikipedia, Casa Rocca Piccola).

The main sights

• The furnished rooms - a house shown as lived in rather than arranged as a museum.
• The air raid shelters - wartime tunnels cut into the rock beneath the palace.
• The family collections - silver, costume and portraits accumulated over generations.
• The private chapel - the house chapel kept in use.

When to go

Year round; tours run at set times through the day and are guided only. It closes on Sundays and public holidays. Booking helps in peak season.

Things to know

Entry is by guided tour only and turning up between times means waiting. The house is lived in and parts are closed. The shelters involve steep steps and low headroom.

Nearby

The Grand Master's Palace is nearby, and Fort St Elmo is northeast.

Key facts