The first landmark most bus arrivals see in Valletta is this fountain: three Tritons holding a wide basin over their heads just outside City Gate, an easy stop on your way in.
Monument, Valletta. Meridian Dispatch.
Yes. Visitor guides list no admission fee and no ticket for the fountain or the surrounding square, and the square can be visited at any point on the way into Valletta.
Yes. The fountain sits in an open square that visitor guides list as accessible 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and the figures are illuminated once darkness falls.
The most recent full restoration ran from 2017 to 2018 and removed years of grime and damage from the statues. A restoration firm from Rome restored the massive base of the fountain.
Three bronze Tritons, the mythological messengers of the sea, stand at the centre of the square. Between them they hold a massive circular basin above their heads.
The Maltese sculptor Vincent Apap designed the fountain with the draughtsman Victor Anastasi, and it was completed in 1959. The figures are painted the azurite blue they first wore, and a steel frame inside them now carries the weight of the plate.
It ranks among Malta's best-known modernist landmarks and anchors the entrance to the old town.
After sunset the bronze figures are lit, which suits night photography. Because nothing tall shuts out the sky, blue hour also gives warm light on the figures.
Beside the terminus bus bays, where direct airport buses also stop, the fountain makes a natural first stop on arrival.
Walk the step-free circuit of the square to see the three bronze figures from every side. Benches and rest areas line the paved plaza around them, if you want to sit a while before heading in. Public restrooms are nearby too.
When you are done, City Gate is about a minute's walk away, and the old town opens up beyond it. A lift also reaches Upper Barrakka Gardens.
Come by public transport rather than by car. If you do drive, parking is available in Floriana and at the MCP car park, both a short walk from the fountain.
Hastings Garden and Pjazza Teatru Rjal are each about 200m away, so either makes a short stroll on.
Stay in Valletta and two harbours are a short walk from your bed: the Barrakka Lift takes you down to the Grand Harbour for the ferry to the Three Cities, and on the other side of the city the Sliema ferry crosses Marsamxett.
Read the Valletta guideExplore the rest of Valletta
Cannons, a carved stone portal and a coat of arms fill the baroque front of this auberge, now the office of the Prime Minister. The…
Arched loggias on the highest tier of the bastions frame a full view across the Grand Harbour to Birgu, Senglea and Fort St Angelo. Entry…
Glass cars climb the face of the bastion between Upper Barrakka Gardens and the wharf below, saving the long walk up the stepped streets.…
On most days a crew in period uniform loads and fires a cannon from the gun platform below Upper Barrakka, at noon and at 4pm. Firings are…
Behind a plain, almost military facade, every surface of the interior is carved, gilded or painted, and the floor is a patchwork of around…
Founded in 1776, the Bibliotheca keeps the archives of the Order of St John in a neoclassical building on Republic Square. It is a working…
A tall spire marks this Anglican cathedral on Independence Square and anchors the Marsamxett skyline. The neoclassical interior is plain,…
Seen from Sliema, the great dome of this basilica rises above the Marsamxett bastions and dominates the city's skyline. Rebuilt after…
Save Tritons' Fountain to your Malta trip in the Meridian Dispatch app and build the day around it, with the best of Valletta pinned on one map.
Download on the App StoreLast updated