National War Museum Valletta

The horrors of war are impressively illustrated by the history of Malta.

Älgbert Elgson

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The War Museum of Malta is housed in Fort Saint Elmo in Valletta.
From 1417 Fort Saint Elmo was more and more built into a fortress and had several times in history to prove the defensiveness. Most recently, this was the case during World War II.

The First and Second World War are also the core theme of the exhibition at the National War Museum .
Among the exhibits are several guns, vehicles and uniforms.

But also the architecture can inspire. Today’s star-shaped fort was planned by Italian architects in 1552 and as early as 1565 the construction of the Great Siege of Malta had to defend the port of Valletta, along with Fort Tigné and Fort Ricasoli.

The exhibitions are arranged chronologically from the Bronze Age to the present day. Not only the exhibits, but also the entire building are explored. Some parts have not been open to the public in 2019 because all buildings have been renovated since 2015. When the restoration will be completed and which buildings will be accessible afterwards, at the time of our visit no one of the museum staff could tell us.
Part of the exhibition are not only artifacts and information boards, but also multimedia offerings such as films.

Conclusion:
Very informative museum in impressive architecture. This might be one reason why the National War Museum is one of the most visited attractions in Malta.
Definitely worth a visit, even for people who do not really know much about World Wars. It has a beautiful view of the harbor.
What a pity that one sees the fort actually very little. The museum could therefore be housed in another building. There is so much potential given away.

We were here: 2019