In this cathedral you look across a floor of coloured marble tomb slabs, on the spot where tradition says the Roman governor Publius met St Paul after his shipwreck.
Cathedral, Mdina. Meridian Dispatch.
Sightseeing entry is ticketed, on a combined ticket for the cathedral and the Cathedral Museum, sold at the museum and online. Children under 12 enter free. Visitors who come to pray are invited to approach a member of staff, who guides them to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
Ticketed visits run Monday to Saturday from 9:30, with the last ticket sold at 16:15. On Sundays, sightseers can view the cathedral only from behind a rope, from 15:00 to 17:00, or from 16:30 in August.
Yes. The cathedral allows photography inside but forbids flash. One visitor guide adds that non-flash photography is often for personal use, so follow any posted signs on the day.
The cathedral asks visitors to enter decently dressed and provides shawls and wraps at the entrance. It also asks them to avoid stiletto and narrow heels, to protect the inlaid marble floor. One visitor guide advises covering shoulders and knees.
Frequent public buses run from Valletta to Rabat and Mdina, stopping just outside the old city walls, and the cathedral names route 50 for the trip. From Rabat, the walk runs through Howard Gardens to the Main Gate and on to Cathedral Square.
The cathedral states that access for disabled visitors is available. One visitor guide warns of cobbles and small steps inside, so ask on arrival for the most accessible entrance.
The cathedral's pale stone façade, dome and twin bell towers dominate the skyline of Mdina. It was rebuilt in Baroque style after the 1693 earthquake severely damaged the church before it.
Inside, the ceiling fresco shows moments from the life of St Paul. Marble slabs cover the floor of the main nave and many of the aisles. Some are tombs and others commemorate canons or laymen, while the most colourful, for bishops, lie in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and the two transepts.
Three works survived the earthquake: the apse frescoes of Paul's shipwreck, Mattia Preti's painting of the conversion of Saint Paul and a 15th-century Tuscan Madonna and Child.
In the north aisle, Francesco Grandi's Descent of the Holy Spirit stands over the side altar. Over the second chapel, Pietro Gagliardi's altarpiece shows Our Lady looking over the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour.
In the next aisle, look for the chestnut door made in 1535, saved from the ruins of the old cathedral and now fitted to the old sacristy.
Walk in through Mdina's Main Gate and on up to Cathedral Square, a short way through the old city. Buy your ticket at the Cathedral Museum, on the right side of the cathedral and only a few metres away, or online before you come.
The one ticket gives one entry to each building, and staff validate it at both doors.
Inside, start in the main nave, then move into the aisles and transepts. Afterwards cross to the museum, in the former Seminary in Archbishop's Square, which faces the cathedral's side entrance.
If you drive, park outside the Main Gate, outside Greek's Gate or near the Roman Domus, then walk in. Bring no food or drink inside.
Come in December and you also see a Neapolitan baroque crib with more than 200 figures.
St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta shares cathedral status with this church, and Mattia Preti painted its vault, so add it if you are heading back to Valletta.
Give your afternoon to St Paul's Cathedral and the rooms of Palazzo Falson, then walk to Bastion Square on the city walls and watch the sun set over the countryside and the coast.
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