Mdina is the former capital city of Malta and was the country's prime urban centre during Roman rule, although it was subsequently reduced in size following the Arabic conquest in 870AD, when it was rebuilt by its conquerors as a fortified town.

Situated close to the geographical centre of Malta, it is smaller than Valletta and although it is also distinctly baroque, it retains the architecture introduced by the Normans during the medieval era. The oldest house dates to this period, built in 1233.

Since 1568 when Valletta was established as the capital, Mdina was pretty much forgotten by the political, religious and cultural elite. The nobles of Sicilian and Norman origin that had moved to Malta during the Norman era were left to wallow in their wealthy complacence. The upside of this is that Mdina has been left largely as it was and is still authentically medieval in character.

Even today Mdina is mostly deserted and it functions mostly as an open-air museum, a healthy number of tourists streaming through all day, taking in St Paul's Cathedral and the Cathedral Museum, and wandering its meandering alleyways.