Mdina L-Imdina (Maltese) Città Notabile, Città Vecchia Ann, Melite, Melita | |
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City andLocal council | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
| Nickname: The Silent City | |
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  Mdina | |
| Coordinates:35°53′9″N14°24′11″E / 35.88583°N 14.40306°E /35.88583; 14.40306 | |
| Country |  Malta |
| Region | Western Region |
| District | Western District |
| Established | c. 8th century BC as Ann c. 11th century AD as Mdina |
| Borders | Attard,Mtarfa,Rabat |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Peter Sant Manduca (PN) |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.9 km2 (0.35 sq mi) |
| Population (Aug. 2023) | |
• Total | 250 |
| • Density | 280/km2 (720/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Midjan (m), Midjana (f), Midjani (pl) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | MDN |
| Dialing code | 356 |
| ISO 3166 code | MT-29 |
| Patron saints | St. Peter St. Paul Our Lady of Mount Carmel |
| Day of festa | 29 June 4th Sunday of July |
| Buses 50, 51, 52, 53, 56 fromValletta terminus, stop at bus stop named "Rabat 3"[1] | |
Mdina (Maltese:L-Imdina[lɪmˈdiːnɐ];Italian:Medina), also known by its Italian epithetsCittà Vecchia ("Old City") andCittà Notabile ("Notable City"), is afortified city in theWestern Region ofMalta which was the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city has not spread beyond its ancient walls, and has a population of 250.[2]
A naturalredoubt, the area of the city has been inhabited since prehistory. APhoeniciancolony known as Ann (Phoenician:𐤀𐤍𐤍,ʾNN) was established around the8th century BC, sharing its name with the island and presumably acting as its capital. During thePunic Wars, the town was acquired by theRomans and renamedMelita (Ancient Greek:Μελίτη,Melítē) after the Greek andLatin name for the island, probably taken from the Punic port atCospicua on theGrand Harbour. Greco-Roman Melite was larger than present-day Mdina. It was reduced to its present size during the period ofByzantine orArab rule. Following a 9th-century massacre, the area was largely uninhabited until its refounding in the 11th century asMadīnah, from which the town's current name derives. Mdina then continued to serve as the capital of Malta until the arrival of theOrder of St. John in 1530, who established their capital atBirgu instead. Mdina experienced a period of decline over the following centuries, although it saw a revival in the early 18th century during which severalBaroque buildings were erected.
Mdina remained the centre of the Maltese nobility and religious authorities, and property largely continues to be passed down in families from generation to generation. The city has never regained the importance it had before 1530, giving rise to the popular nickname the "Silent City" among both locals and visitors.[3] Mdina, having largely maintained its medieval character, is on the tentative list ofUNESCOWorld Heritage Sites, and has become one of the main tourist attractions in Malta.[4]
The name of the city derives from theArabic wordmadīnah (مدينة), meaning "town" or "city".[5][6][7] The nameMelite orMelita, associated with the former ancient settlement on the same site, has survived as the name of the island (Malta).[7]
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The plateau on which Mdina is built has been inhabited since prehistory, and by theBronze Age it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible.[8] ThePhoenicians established acolony at the site, known as Ann after their name for the island,[9][10][11] around the 8th century BC.[12] TheRoman Republic captured Malta in218 BC, early in theSecond Punic War. They continued to use Mdina as their centre of administration but renamed itMelita after theGreek andLatin name for the island, probably taken from the main Punic port on theGrand Harbour.[11] The Punico-Roman city was about three times the size of present-day Mdina, extending into a large part of modernRabat.[13]
According to theActs of the Apostles,Paul the Apostle was shipwrecked on Malta inAD 60, greeted by its governorPublius, and miraculously cured the governor's sick father before leaving.[14]Christian legend holds that the population of Malta then converted toChristianity, with Publius becomingBishop of Malta and thenBishop of Athens before beingmartyred in 112.[15][16][17]
Very few remains of the Punico-Roman city survive today. The most significant are the ruins of theDomus Romana, in which several well-preserved mosaics, statues and other remains were discovered. Remains of the podium of aTemple of Apollo, fragments of the city walls and some other sites have also been excavated.[18]
At some point following thefall of the Western Roman Empire, aretrenchment was built within the city, reducing it to its present size. This was done to make the city's perimeter more easily defensible, and similar reductions in city sizes were common around the Mediterranean region in the early Middle Ages. Although it was traditionally assumed that the retrenchment was built by the Arabs, it has been suggested that it was actually built by theByzantine Empire in around the 8th century, when thethreat from the Arabs increased.[8]
In 870, Byzantine Melite, which was ruled by governor Amros (probably Ambrosios), wasbesieged byAghlabids led by Halaf al-Hādim. He was killed in the fighting, and Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad was sent fromSicily to continue the siege following his death. The duration of the siege is unknown, but it probably lasted for some weeks or months. After Melite fell to the invaders, the inhabitants were massacred, the city was destroyed and its churches were looted. Marble from Melite's churches was used to build the castle ofSousse (Ribat of Sousse,Tunisia) .[19][20]
According toAl-Himyarī, Malta remained almost uninhabited until it was resettled in 1048 or 1049 by Muslims fromSicily and their slaves, who built a settlement called Madina on the site of Melite.[21] Archaeological evidence suggests that the city was already a thriving Muslim settlement by the beginning of the 11th century, so 1048–49 might be the date when the city was officially founded and its walls were constructed.[22][verification needed] The layout of the new city was completely different to that of ancient Melite.[18] Some aspects of present-day Mdina's layout, such as its narrow and maze-like streets, may still reflect the legacy of this period and share some similarities with historic North Africanmedinas.[6]
The Byzantinesbesieged Medina in 1053–54, but were repelled by its defenders.[23] The city surrendered peacefully toRoger I of Sicily after ashort siege in 1091,[24] and Malta was subsequently incorporated into theCounty and later theKingdom of Sicily, being dominated by a succession of feudal lords. A castle known as theCastellu di la Chitati was built on the southeast corner of the city near the main entrance, probably on the site of an earlier Byzantine fort.
In the 12th century, the town's fortifications were rebuilt and expanded.[6] By this time, the city had also been reduced to around its present-day size. The area to the south that had formerly been part of Roman Melite, now situated outside the city walls, was turned into a suburb, present-day Rabat.[6]
The population of Malta during the fifteenth century was about 10,000, with town life limited to Mdina,Birgu and theGozo Citadel. Mdina was comparatively small and partly uninhabited and by 1419, it was already outgrown by its suburb, Rabat.[25] Under Aragonese rule, local government rested on theUniversità, a communal body based in Mdina, which collected taxation and administered the islands' limited resources. At various points during the fifteenth century, this town council complained to its Aragonese overlords that the islands were at the mercy of the sea and thesaracens.[26]
The city withstood asiege byHafsid invaders in 1429.[27] While the exact number of casualties or Maltese who were carried into slavery is unknown, the islands suffered depopulation in this raid.
When theOrder of Saint John took over in Malta in 1530, the nobles ceremoniously handed over the keys of the city to Grand MasterPhilippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, but the Order settled inBirgu and Mdina lost its status as capital city.[28] In the 1540s, the fortifications began to be upgraded during the magistracy ofJuan de Homedes y Coscon,[29] and in 1551 the city withstood abrief Ottoman siege.[30]
During theGreat Siege of Malta in 1565, Mdina was the base of the Order's cavalry, which made occasional sorties on the invading Ottomans. On 7 August 1565, the cavalry attacked the unprotected Ottoman field hospital, which led to the invaders abandoning a major assault on the main fortifications in Birgu andSenglea. The Ottomans attempted to take Mdina in September so as to winter there, but abandoned their plans when the city fired its cannon inefficiently at a much longer range than normal, leading them to believe that it had ammunition to spare. After the siege, Maltese military engineerGirolamo Cassar drew up plans to reduce Mdina's size by half and turning it into a fortress, but these were never implemented due to protests by the city's nobles.[30] The fortifications were again upgraded in the mid-17th century, when the large De Redin Bastion was built at the centre of the land front.[31]
Mdina suffered severe damage during the1693 Sicily earthquake; although no casualties were reported, the 13th-centuryCathedral of St. Paul was partially destroyed, and it was rebuilt byLorenzo Gafà in theBaroque style between 1697 and 1703.[32]
On 3 November 1722, newly elected Grand MasterAntónio Manoel de Vilhena issued orders for the restoration and renovation of Mdina.[33] This renovation was entrusted to the French architect and military engineerCharles François de Mondion, who introduced strongFrench Baroque elements into what was still a largely medieval city. At this point, large parts of the fortifications and the city entrance were completely rebuilt. The remains of theCastellu di la Chitati were demolished to make way forPalazzo Vilhena, while the main gate was walled up and a newMdina Gate was built nearby. Several public buildings were also built, including theBanca Giuratale and theCorte Capitanale. The last major addition to the Mdina fortifications was Despuig Bastion, which was completed in 1746.[34]
On 10 June 1798, Mdina was captured by French forces without much resistance during theFrench invasion of Malta.[35] A French garrison remained in the city, but a Maltese uprising broke out on 2 September of that year. The following day, rebels entered the city through a sally port and massacred the garrison of 65 men.[36] These events marked the beginning ofa two-year uprising and blockade, and the Maltese set up a National Assembly which met at Mdina's Banca Giuratale.[37] The rebels were successful, and in 1800 the French surrendered and Malta became aBritish protectorate.[30]
From 1883 to 1931, Mdina was linked withValletta by theMalta Railway.[38]
Today, Mdina is one of Malta's major tourist attractions, hosting about 1.5 million tourists a year.[39] Nocars (other than a limited number of residents, emergency vehicles, wedding cars and horses) are allowed in Mdina, partly why it has earned the nickname 'the Silent City' (Maltese:Il-Belt Siekta). The city displays an unusual mix ofNorman andBaroquearchitecture, including several palaces, most of which serve as private homes.
An extensive restoration of the city walls was undertaken between 2008 and 2016.[40]
Mdina Local Council | |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 30 June 1993 |
| Leadership | |
Mayor | Peter Joseph dei Conti Sant Manduca, PN |
Vice-Mayor | Joseph Debono, PN |
Minority Leader | Mary Anne Sultana, PL |
| Structure | |
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Political groups | Administration Minority
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| Elections | |
Last election | 2024 (Same 5 councillors elected unopposed since 2013) |
Next election | 2029 |
Mdina is governed by a directly elected five-member Local Council. TheNationalist Party has always had the majority of seats and all mayors of Mdina have come from this party, with the Labour Party holding either one, two or no seats at all since the inception of the council. Peter Joseph Sant Manduca, Count of Sant Manduca,[a][41] has been Mayor of Mdina since 2003.[42] The 2019 election did not happen as only five nominations (therefore equalling the total amount of seats) were submitted.
The following are a number of historic and monumental buildings around Mdina:[43]
Founded in 2006, theMdina Knights play in the third division league of theMalta Football Association.
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The present name is derived from the Arabicmadīnah 'town' or 'city'.
The Arabs established themselves in the old Roman town of Melita, which they renamed Mdina (Madīna). According to the Arab chronicler and geographer al-Ḥimyarī (d. c.727/1326–7), Malta remained practically uninhabited after the Muslim conquest, until it was colonised by Muslims from Sicily in 440–1/1048–9. Joseph Brincat interprets al-Ḥimyarī's account of the 441/1049 Arab colonisation to suggest, among other things, that the island remained essentially uninhabited for 180 years (Brincat, 9–14), somewhat confirming Ibn Ḥawqal's assertion that Malta was populated only by wild donkeys and numerous sheep, and that it "produces honey" (Ibn Hawqal, 1:198).
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