As the car goes up the slope from the crafts village of Ta' Qali to the Saqqajja at Rabat, one’s gaze is fixed on the imposing Mdina sky-line. The view is already familiar because it features in practically all local tourist brochures and information services. What you’re seeing is the dome of the cathedral of Mdina, dedicated to the conversion of St. Paul. It is very rare for a visitor to be in Malta and not go to the old city.

As one approaches the parking area in Rabat (no coaches and unauthorised vehicles are allowed in the city itself) the eagerness to be in the ‘Silent City’ grows more intense.

The traditional horse-pulled carriage known as “karozzin” awaits a few metres away from the city’s main gate indicates that tourists are expected.