Limestone bastions drop to the Grand Harbour, and some balconied streets run down to the water.
What Valletta looks like
The city sits on a limestone peninsula between the to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west. Its fortifications are built of the same honey-coloured stone, and most of them are still largely intact. stands at the northern end of the peninsula.
Inside the walls the streets run on a rectangular grid, and some of them slope toward the water. The buildings on them are mostly three to five storeys tall.
runs about one kilometre from the City Gate toward Fort St Elmo. It is mostly pedestrianised. Vehicle access is limited to karozzini, electric cabs and early-morning deliveries.
Enclosed wooden balconies, called gallariji, project from the upper floors along many streets. They are a typical Maltese form. They appear on the palaces as well as the townhouses.
has an ornate interior, and its floor is a series of marble tombs. sits on a bastion above the Grand Harbour. Ceremonial cannon firings take place daily at the Saluting Battery below, usually at noon and at 4pm.
The land front is surrounded by a deep ditch, the , which has bridges across it. Bastions and curtains rise above the moat along the landward side of the city.
The fortifications date from the 1560s and 1570s. The Baroque palaces and churches date mostly from the 1600s and 1700s.
Shot in Valletta
World War Z stood the city in for Jerusalem, with the wall assault filmed at Fort St Elmo and the truck and refugee scenes along Pinto Wharf. Midnight Express was mostly shot in the lower parts of Fort Saint Elmo after permission to film in Istanbul was denied, and Gladiator filmed one scene under a bridge across the Valletta Ditch.
World War Z, 2013
Fort St Elmo
Played the wall assault, Jerusalem, Israel, present day
The wall assault in the Jerusalem sequence of World War Z was filmed at Fort St Elmo. The photograph shows the fort's roofs and parapets, with the sea and modern towers beyond.
What Valletta can double for
Old City in Jerusalem, Israel
World War Z shot its Jerusalem sequences around Valletta, with the wall assault at Fort St Elmo and a crowded checkpoint at Wine Wharf. The limestone walls and the harbour edge supply the same walled outline on screen. Balconies and Baroque palaces give Valletta away in closer frames, so tight shots on the walls hold best. Try searching walls now.
Centro Histórico in Cartagena, Colombia
A ring of bastions joined by curtains encloses the old city, and balconied colonial buildings line its streets. The walls date from the 1600s and 1700s. Wide shots that take in the Grand Harbour and the fort give Valletta away, so frame tight on the balconied streets. Try searching colonial city streets now.
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