Upper Barrakka Gardens

The Upper Barrakka Gardens sit on the St Peter and St Paul bastion at the highest point of Valletta's harbour side, laid out as a private garden for the Italian knights in the 1660s and opened to the public in 1824. The terrace gives the standard view of the Grand Harbour, the Three Cities opposite and the dockyard creeks. Below it the Saluting Battery fires a gun at noon and again in the late afternoon, a practice revived in the 2000s.

Background

The garden occupies the upper tier of the Saints Peter and Paul Bastion, which dates from the 1560s, while the Saluting Battery fills the lower tier. Fra Flaminio Balbiani, an Italian knight, built its terraced arches in 1661, and they originally had a roof. The space served for the recreation of knights of the Order of Saint John from the Italian langue. Among its monuments is a copy of Les Gavroches, the Street Boys, a statue by Antonio Sciortino whose original is kept in MUŻA. A first lift was put up on the site in 1905, shut in 1973 and taken down in 1983. The present lift dates from 15 December 2012, when it was inaugurated.

Source: Wikipedia, "Upper Barrakka Gardens"

The main sights

• The harbour view - the classic outlook over the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities.
• The Saluting Battery - a gun fired at noon and in the late afternoon below the terrace.
• The arcade - the surviving colonnade at the back of the garden.
• The Barrakka lift - the vertical lift connecting the gardens to the harbour quay.

When to go

Year round; the noon gun is the busiest moment. Early morning and evening are quietest. Summer midday on the terrace is very hot.

Practical notes

The terrace is crowded around the noon gun and getting a clear view then takes arriving early. The garden itself is small. Cruise ship days fill it entirely.

Nearby

Fort St Elmo is northeast, and the Grand Master's Palace is in the city behind.

Key facts