Grand Master's Palace: state rooms, armoury, what to expect

The palace that governed Malta for two and a half centuries

From 1571, when Grand Master Jean de la Cassière moved his headquarters from Birgu to the newly built Valletta, the Grand Master’s Palace served as the seat of the Order of St John and, later, of the British colonial administration. Malta achieved independence in 1964, and the Palace now serves as the official residence of the President of Malta and a Heritage Malta museum. Parts of it are occasionally closed for state functions — check the Heritage Malta website before visiting.

The building faces St George’s Square (Misraħ San Ġorġ), Valletta’s main civic space, and occupies an entire city block. From the outside it is strikingly plain — the Knights deliberately avoided the kind of ornamental excess that would have marked it as an aristocratic vanity project. Inside is a different calculation entirely.

What you actually see

The Palace Armoury

The most compelling reason to come. The Palace Armoury is housed in a former stable wing and contains over 5,000 pieces of armour, weaponry, and military equipment spanning the 16th through 18th centuries. The scale of the collection is extraordinary for a site of this size — it was accumulated by successive Grand Masters over two centuries of warfare and represents the most significant collection of Renaissance armour in the world outside the major European royal armouries.

Highlights include:

• Complete suits of armour for individual Grand Masters, identifiable by their personal heraldry and fit to specific bodies (these are not generic pieces — they were made for named individuals).
• The Halberd collection: one of the largest surviving collections of this weapon type, used by the Order’s ceremonial guard.
• Ottoman weapons: trophies captured at the Great Siege of 1565 and at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), clearly differentiated from the European material by their forms and inscriptions.
• Cannon and artillery pieces: including a number specifically connected to the Great Siege.
• Jean de la Valette’s armour: the Grand Master who commanded the defence against the Ottomans in 1565 is represented by pieces identified as his in the palace inventory.

Allow at least 45 minutes in the Armoury alone. The labelling is comprehensive and the Heritage Malta audio guide covers it well.

The State Rooms

The State Rooms occupy the piano nobile (upper floor) and are accessible from the internal courtyard. They served as the official reception and ceremonial spaces of the Grand Masters and subsequently the British Governors. Three rooms are particularly significant:

The Hall of St Michael and St George: the main reception hall, lined with a remarkable set of 17 Flemish tapestries. These are the Gobelin series, woven in Brussels in the early 18th century. They depict allegorical and exotic scenes — maps of Africa, figures of native peoples, hunting and trade imagery — and are among the finest surviving examples of their type in the world. The tapestries are the reason to make time for the State Rooms even if the Armoury has already filled your appetite.

The Throne Room (Hall of the Supreme Council): used by the Grand Masters for formal audiences and by the British as a legislative chamber. The walls are decorated with a painted frieze showing episodes from the Great Siege of 1565 — a sequence of battle scenes commissioned by Grand Master Verdala in the 1580s that reads like a graphic novel of the siege. The friezes run around all four walls and cover every significant moment of the 1565 campaign in sometimes gruesome detail.

The Hall of the Ambassadors: a smaller room used for private diplomatic meetings, with more intimate scale and finer cabinet furniture than the public ceremonial rooms.

The Courtyards

The palace has two internal courtyards. The Neptune Courtyard takes its name from a bronze statue of Neptune that stood here before being moved to the maritime museum in Birgu. The Prince Alfred Courtyard (named for Queen Victoria’s son who visited in the 19th century) is the more architecturally significant, with a graceful arcaded loggia on three sides.

The courtyards are free to enter and provide a useful orientation point between the Armoury (ground floor, south wing) and the State Rooms (upper floor, north wing).

Tickets, hours, and what costs what

Armoury only: approximately 10 EUR (adults, 2026 Heritage Malta prices). This covers the Armoury and the courtyards.

State Rooms: these have restricted access — not all rooms are always open, and they may be closed for presidential or state functions without advance notice. Check Heritage Malta’s website for the current access situation before planning your visit around the State Rooms specifically.

The 3-in-1 Museum Pass: the Discover Malta pass covers entry to the Grand Master’s Palace (Armoury), St John’s Co-Cathedral, and one further Heritage Malta site. If you are visiting two or more Heritage Malta properties in Valletta on the same day, the pass saves money.

Valletta: Discover Malta's History with a 3-in-1 Museum Pass

Heritage Malta Pass: multi-day pass covering all Heritage Malta sites including Hagar Qim, the Hypogeum, and Tarxien. Worth calculating if you are staying five or more days and intend to visit several sites.

Hours: generally Monday-Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday 09:00-15:00. Subject to change and state closure. Verify before visiting.

How long to allow

• Armoury only: 45-60 minutes.
• Armoury + State Rooms: 1.5-2 hours.
• Armoury + State Rooms + both courtyards at a slow pace: 2.5 hours.

The Grand Master’s Palace is not a walk-through site. The Armoury requires reading the labels to understand what you are looking at, and the tapestries in the State Rooms reward close attention. Rushing produces a blurred impression. If you only have an hour in Valletta, the Armoury is worth it; the State Rooms need time to make sense.

Fitting the palace into a Valletta day

The Palace sits on Republic Street, a 2-minute walk from St John’s Co-Cathedral. The natural combination is both on the same morning — the Cathedral first (quieter earlier), then the Palace. Together they represent the two institutions that defined the Knights’ rule: the religious and the governmental.

For a fuller Valletta day:

• Morning: St John’s Co-Cathedral (full guide here)
• Late morning: Grand Master’s Palace
• Lunch: Strait Street or St Lucia Street (avoid Republic Street)
• Afternoon: Valletta walking tour covering the bastions, Barrakka Gardens, and back-streets
• Late afternoon: ferry across to Birgu for Fort St Angelo and the Three Cities

The 3-day Malta itinerary and 5-day Malta itinerary include the Palace as part of structured Valletta days.

For those interested in the military history specifically, the Valletta WWII tour guide covers the wartime shelters, the George Cross Island designation, and Malta’s role in the Second World War — a complementary thread to the Knights’ military history in the Palace Armoury.

For visitors who want a guided experience of the Palace alongside St John’s Co-Cathedral, the Valletta Grand Tour provides context and narrative around both institutions:

The Grand Tour of Valletta (walking)

Frequently asked questions about the Grand Master’s Palace

Can you visit the Grand Master’s Palace without a guide?

Yes — the Heritage Malta audio guide is included with the standard Armoury ticket and covers the collection well. A guided tour adds value if you want to ask specific questions or get the stories behind individual pieces. Several GYG-listed Valletta tours include the Palace as a stop.

Is the Grand Master’s Palace the same as the President’s Palace?

Yes — the building serves both functions simultaneously. The President of Malta has official residence here. Parts of the building are used for state functions and may be closed to visitors on specific dates without advance announcement. Heritage Malta typically provides at least 24-48 hours’ notice on their website.

What is the best order to visit the Grand Master’s Palace and St John’s Cathedral?

Visit St John’s first (it opens at 09:00 and gets crowded quickly). The Palace Armoury typically receives fewer visitors in the morning period and can absorb a later start. The Armoury’s covered space is also more comfortable in summer heat after you have already walked in the morning sun.

Is the Palace Armoury suitable for children?

Yes — children typically find the armour and weapons compelling. The Heritage Malta audio guide has a children’s version. The scale of the armour suits (some are very small, reflecting the shorter stature of Knights from the 16th century) is a point of natural curiosity. The State Rooms are less engaging for younger visitors.

Are there guided tours of the Grand Master’s Palace on GYG?

Several Valletta walking tours include the Palace exterior and the courtyard as part of a broader city tour. Dedicated guided interior tours of the Armoury are less common on GYG but the self-guided audio option is comprehensive. The 3-in-1 Museum Pass includes access and is bookable through GYG.

What is the connection between the Grand Master’s Palace and the Great Siege of 1565?

The Palace was built because of the Great Siege — the victory over the Ottoman fleet in 1565 gave the Order the confidence and prestige to build a new capital. Grand Master Jean de la Valette, who led the defence, died in 1568 before the Palace was complete. The Throne Room’s painted frieze (commissioned in the 1580s) depicts the siege in detail as a statement of institutional memory. It is, in a sense, the founding myth of Valletta rendered in paint.

Last reviewed: 2026-04-20