Pietà, Malta

Where it sits. Pietà — Tal-Pietà in Maltese — occupies the head of its own small creek on the southern shore of Marsamxett Harbour, the first suburb beyond Floriana and therefore the next-closest settlement to Valletta after Floriana itself. It borders Ħamrun, Msida and Floriana, and its population has grown sharply, from under 4,000 in the mid-2000s to just over 7,000 by 2024, with foreign nationals now outnumbering Maltese ones. The town is built on a slope: a waterfront strip of quays and moorings at the bottom, a dense grid of streets climbing behind it, and the ridge of Gwardamanġa on top. Four named zones divide it — Ta' Braxia, Xatt it-Tiben, Sa Maison and Gwardamanġa.

Where the name comes from. The name is Italian for pity, and refers specifically to the sorrow of Our Lady. It derives from a chapel and rectory built here in 1612 and dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. The church of that dedication, whose fabric belongs to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is still in use, and the street called Triq id-Duluri commemorates the same devotion. Two nearby streets are named for St Augustine and his mother St Monica, a reminder that the Augustinians have a long presence here; their college's secondary campus is in the town.

A hospital town. For most of the twentieth century Pietà was where the country went to be born and to be treated. St Luke's Hospital, Malta's principal general hospital under British rule and afterwards, stood on the ridge until Mater Dei took over its functions in 2007. So many Maltese citizens were delivered there that Tal-Pietà appears as the birthplace on an outsized share of the national population's documents — although, as locals will tell you without hesitation, almost none of them consider it their home town. The complex has been progressively repurposed since its closure, and the surrounding streets still carry the names and geography of that era, from St Luke's Square to St Luke's Road.

Royal lodgers and English gardens. Two buildings give Pietà an unexpected foothold in British history. Villa Guardamangia, on the hill, was the house where Princess Elizabeth lived between 1949 and 1951 while her husband was serving with the Mediterranean Fleet — the only period of her life she spent making a home outside Britain. The state acquired the property in recent years and it has been undergoing conservation. Lower down, Villa Frere preserves the terraced garden laid out by John Hookham Frere, the British diplomat, translator and friend of Canning who settled in Malta in 1821 and lived here until his death in 1846; his garden of walks, arches and rock-cut features has been slowly recovered by volunteers, and the street outside carries his name. Ta' Braxia Cemetery, a Commonwealth War Graves site, holds many of the British garrison dead of the First World War.

What you actually see today. Pietà is a working suburb rather than a sight, and the honest pleasure of it is the waterfront. The creek is lined with moorings and small craft, and an old boathouse of some architectural interest now operates as a restaurant on the water's edge. Before the yacht marina was built, this was the departure point for the Gozo ferry. The Marsamxett promenade begins here and runs unbroken through Msida, Ta' Xbiex and Gżira to Sliema and on to St Julian's, roughly six kilometres of flat waterside pavement with the Valletta and Floriana bastions in view for the first stretch — the most rewarding urban walk on the island that does not involve climbing anything. The headquarters of the national broadcaster and of one of the two main political parties, built here in 1969, also sit within the boundary.

Getting there and timing. Pietà is on the main road out of Valletta and is served by a large share of the bus network; the walk into the capital along the harbour takes about twenty-five minutes. Rates for accommodation are noticeably lower than in Sliema or St Julian's for a location that is closer to Valletta than either. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, but the harbour walk is at its finest on a clear winter morning, when the light comes in low across the water and the bastions opposite are still in shadow.