Walled Cities – Mdina

A cityscape of Mdina, perched on a 185-metre spur of the Dingli Plateau. To the upper left: the inscription "MDINA". To the lower left: the issuing state "MALTA"; to the lower right: the year "2025". To the upper right: the designer's initials "NGB".

On a narrow rocky ridge some 185 metres above sea level, at the western edge of Malta's main island, sits Mdina — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Malta. Settled as early as the Bronze Age, the site was developed into an administrative centre under Roman rule as Melite. With the Arab conquest in the 9th century it received its current name, derived from the Arabic word for "fortified city". The Normans, and later the Knights of St John, strengthened the city walls and shaped the townscape with palaces and Baroque churches that still define its streets today. For centuries Mdina was Malta's capital and the seat of the Maltese nobility — which is why it still carries the nickname "the Silent City": only a few hundred people live permanently within its walls.

The city fortification itself is Mdina's architectural core and, at the same time, a testament to European fortress-building from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. The massive bastions, gates and moats enclosing the old town have largely survived, making Mdina one of the best-preserved medieval urban ensembles in the Mediterranean. Malta honours this historic fabric as part of its "Maltese Walled Cities" series, which presents the island's significant fortified towns — with the 2025 issue dedicated to Mdina as one of its central chapters.