4 Best Sights in Malta

One of the last of Malta's patrician houses still to be occupied is the first to be opened up to visitors. The ninth Marquis de Piro and his family can trace their lineage back to when the Knights of the Order of St. John fled Rhodes for Malta in 1530, and you can see the family history laid out in their home's decor. The exquisite 16th-century house displays generations' worth of what the family calls "aristocratic bric-a-brac," including stools given to them for attending the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II; a beautiful, 18th-century, portable, Baroque chapel used for baptisms; and works by the artist Giuseppi Cali, the Marquis's great-grandfather and painter of the Rotunda at Mosta. Each charts the history of the family, the house, or Valletta itself, while beneath the house lies the remains of a vast World War II bunker, one of around 30 built across the city as the bombs started falling. It was dug from the quarry in which the stone for the house was cut some four centuries earlier. If you pay extra, you can get a personal guided tour by a family member, who can share some rather unique tales of Maltese history.

Casa Rocca Piccola recently added B&B stays to its repertoire, with five rooms set aside for guests (doubles from €160), offering a taste of aristocratic life. Breakfast is taken in the exquisite courtyard, complete with the family parrot for company.

Mdina's medieval Patrician stone mansion dates from between the 13th and 15th centuries and reveals a wealth of original architectural features. The mansion's rooms display more than 45 collections of silver, furniture, jewelry, armour, paintings, and more, including art works by Anthony Van Dyck, Nicolas Poussin, and Mattia Preti. There is a free audio guide.