page_title: Mdina
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Mdina / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: English: Mdina: Cathedral Museum
context_page_description: Mdina, also known by its titles Città Vecchia or Città Notabile, is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Malta which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city is still confined within its walls, and has a population of just under 300, but it is contiguous with the town of Rabat, which takes its name from the Arabic word for suburb, and has a population of over 11,000.
  The city was founded as Maleth in around the 8th century BC by Phoenician settlers, and was later renamed Melite by the Romans. Ancient Melite was larger than present-day Mdina, and it was reduced to its present size during the Byzantine or Arab occupation of Malta. During the latter period, the city adopted its present name, which derives from the Arabic word medina. The city remained the capital of Malta throughout the Middle Ages, until the arrival of the Order of St. John in 1530, when Birgu became the administrative centre of the island. Mdina experienced a period of decline over the following centuries, although it saw a revival in the early 18th century. At this point, it acquired several Baroque features, although it did not lose its medieval character.
context_section_description: The following are a number of historic and monumental buildings around Mdina:
  The city walls, including Mdina Gate, Greeks Gate and the Torre dello Standardo
  St. Paul's Cathedral
  St. Paul's Catacombs
  Palazzo Vilhena (National Museum of Natural History)
  Palazzo Falson (Norman House)
  Palazzo Gatto Murina
  Palazzo Santa Sofia
  Palazzo Costanzo
  Banca Giuratale
  Corte Capitanale (city hall)
  St. Agatha's Chapel
  St. Nicholas' Chapel
  St Roque's Church
  Mdina Dungeons
  Carmelite Church & Convent
  Mdina Experience
  St Peter's Church and Monastery
  Bastion Square
  Domvs Romana, ruins of a Roman townhouse just outside the city
caption: Cathedral Museum
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX S8200", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2018:01:29 21:44:20", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2374", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "7604", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10700", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "33/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:06:03 04:25:10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:06:03 04:25:10", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "7/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "88", "EXIF FocalLength": "9/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "7480", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "25", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "3870"}