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Pjazza Teatru Rjal

Landmark
Landmark  ·  Valletta, Malta 35.8964°N   14.5103°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Pjazza Teatru Rjal

Time needed
1 to 2 hoursSuggested visit
Best time
Show eveningsOpen-air concerts
Cost
TicketedSold event by event
Guide
Not neededGo on your own
Daytime

Can you walk into Pjazza Teatru Rjal during the day?

One travel guide reports that the plaza is free to enter, so visitors can walk in among the surviving walls of the old opera house, and that its opening depends on the events scheduled.

Tickets

How do you book tickets for a show at Pjazza Teatru Rjal?

Tickets are sold on the venue's official website. Each show appears on its upcoming-events page as a separate event, and the booking for that date is made from there.

Summer

What is on at Pjazza Teatru Rjal in summer?

Open-air concerts are the main draw on summer evenings. Past summers have brought Malta Concert Orchestra performances and tribute concerts to the plaza, set among the old opera house walls.

Location

Where is Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta?

Just inside City Gate, at the entrance to the city. It is one of the first landmarks a visitor reaches after walking through the gate into Valletta.

Wheelchair access

Is Pjazza Teatru Rjal wheelchair accessible?

Yes. Lifts and ramps lead to the auditorium and the accessible restrooms, and wheelchair users enter by the side entrance in South Street. The venue asks guests with special needs to tell the box office or producer, and to arrive at least 20 minutes before curtain time.

Food and drink

Can visitors bring food and drink into Pjazza Teatru Rjal?

Drinks may be taken into the theatre, but eating is not allowed, and neither is smoking, e-cigarettes included. Chewing gum counts as food. Guests are asked to dispose of empty containers properly.

Buy tickets from the official site →

On a concert evening, you sit under the open sky inside the surviving walls of Valletta's old opera house, an open-air stage that hosts some of Malta's most prestigious musical events.

What makes it special

Pjazza Teatru Rjal is an open-air theatre built into the ruins of Valletta's Royal Opera House. Unveiled in 2013 after several abandoned plans to rebuild, the Italian architect Renzo Piano's design kept the surviving walls standing and fitted contemporary seating, lighting and stage facilities inside them.

The opera house opened in 1866 and was destroyed in 1942, during the Second World War. The stone walls that frame the seats today are what survived.

The result is a theatre with no roof, where the audience sits among the old walls and looks up at the sky. Visitors praise the sound and the seating for evening concerts, and describe a calm, well-managed venue.

Visiting

Ticketed performances are listed one by one on the theatre's own site, each with its date, start time and setting, and you book the one you want there.

Check the setting your event names, because some evenings are staged in the Green Room rather than out on the open-air plaza. Start times also vary from one date to the next, so read the time on the event page.

Buying a ticket, or simply attending, means accepting the venue's house rules, which the same site publishes, so read them before the night.

Tips

Some shows are sold at more than one ticket level, so compare the levels on the event page before you book.

The square around the theatre is lined with cafes, restaurants and shops, if you want to eat before a show.

Nearby

Explore the rest of Valletta

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