Palazzo Parisio

Palace

Palace · Mdina, Malta 35.9149°N 14.4442°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Palazzo Parisio

Time needed

1 to 1.5 hoursRooms and garden circuit

Best time

Avoid summer noonHeat in the open garden

Season

October to MayCooler months to visit

Guide

Not neededSelf-guided state rooms and garden

Mondays

Is Palazzo Parisio open on Mondays?

Travel listings give Monday as the weekly closing day. The house and its walled garden in Naxxar open to visitors on the other six days, Tuesday to Sunday.

Garden only

Can you visit the gardens at Palazzo Parisio without going into the house?

Yes. Travel listings report a garden-only ticket sold alongside the one for the house and gardens together, with reduced rates for seniors, students and children.

Bus from Valletta

How do you get to Palazzo Parisio from Valletta by bus?

Bus route 41 runs from Valletta to Naxxar directly, in about 30 minutes, and the palazzo stands in the centre of the village. By car, Naxxar is about 10 km north of Valletta via the Regional Road.

There are two halves to this Naxxar palazzo, still in private hands: the state rooms and the walled baroque garden. Give the garden equal time, because Malta's geology and climate make formal gardens this size rare.

What makes it special

A double-flight staircase in Carrara marble opens the house, rising under a frescoed vault to the state rooms. Above it come mirrored, gilded salons, lofty halls lined with Maltese and Italian paintings, and formal dining rooms.

The grand ballroom is the centrepiece, with a frescoed ceiling and gilded mouldings. Its proportions were meant to express the Scicluna family's ambitions at their peak.

The house started in the 1700s as a hunting lodge, and the Parisio and Scicluna families turned it into the palazzo of salons and staircase you walk through today.

Outside, the Italianate gardens are laid out in the European baroque manner and kept in manicured order. They rank among the finest gardens in Malta.

Visiting

The door is on Victory Square, opposite the parish church. Visitor guides report that tickets are sold at the door.

Inside, the marble staircase takes you up to the state rooms, which you go round at your own pace before heading out into the garden.

The Luna restaurant serves in the garden in the warmer season, among the scent of blooming flora, and moves to the cosy interiors in cooler weather. In winter its seats are plush sofas set among the palazzo's rooms.

Tips

If you drive, park on Triq il-Palazz or the village streets around it.

Mdina, the old walled capital, lies about 8 km to the southwest, close enough to pair with the palazzo in one day. The Rotunda of Mosta is also nearby.

Know before you goAs of November 2026, the palazzo also hosts weddings, parties, filming and corporate events, and one guide warns it can close for a whole day. Ring +356 2141 2461 on the morning you plan to go.