Dark Malta Tours

22/02/2024

🤜 On this day in 1846, a fight broke out between Maltese youths and British soldiers in Valletta. Tensions had sprung up a few days before, when pigs had been dressed up as Protestant priests. So what was going on?

⛔️ The story began when the British Governor of Malta, Sir Patrick Stuart, banned the wearing of masks on Carnival Sunday that year. He wasn’t the first to impose such a restriction, because the Knights of St John had previously banned carnival masks as they didn’t want anyone’s identity to be concealed, for fear of spies.

🎭 The Maltese weren’t happy with Sir Patrick's rule as they loved to dress up, and masks were a part of their carnival costumes.

🐴 So instead, the locals dressed up their horses, donkeys, dogs and other animals in human costumes, to parade them around Valletta during the carnival celebrations.

🐷 Some animals, including pigs, were dressed up as British Protestant priests, a result of the strained relationships between the British clergy and the Maltese Catholics and as a slight to Sir Patrick's ban on masks.

🥊 These tensions nearly had a tragic end - on 22 February a group of young Maltese assaulted bandsmen from a British regiment, and the furious soldiers were said to be close to spilling blood in retaliation. Luckily, the soldiers’ officers did not order them to fight back.

🤖 Image by AI

☠️ Follow Dark Malta Tours for more strange stories from the past, and book a dark history walking tour at darkmaltatours.com

16/02/2024

☠️ On this day in 1642, a Knight of Malta took an unusual escape from a deadly situation.

⚓️ Francesco Ricasoli, a knight from Florence, was in command of a ship returning to Malta after a trip to Sicily. A storm blew up around Cape Passero, the southern part of the island, and the knights’ ships had to battle the waves.

🐴 Ricasoli’s ship began to sink. While his crew jumped overboard and swam toward the shore, Ricasoli chose another way of avoiding a watery grave. He untied a horse that was on board, got on its back and made it jump into the sea.

🌊 The horse then swam to shore, and both the animal and its rider were later rescued by the rest of the knights’ navy.

🏰 Ricasoli went on to live another 31 years and in 1670 he contributed 20,000 scudi towards the cost of building a fort near the entrance of Malta's Grand Harbour, which was named Fort Ricasoli in his honour.

🎥 That fort still stands today, and has been the location for many movies including Gladiator, Troy and Assassin’s Creed.

🤖 Image by AI

🎟️ Take a walk with Dark Malta Tours to hear more strange stories like this one. The next tour is A Night of Terror in Mdina Dungeons - book now!

11/02/2024

These are some of the souls who came on my latest Dark Tales in an Mdina Palazzo tour.

They saw the rooms and heard the stories of the gorgeous Palazzo del Prelato thanks to our host Michael.

The next tour is on 6 April - book now to go Behind Closed Doors in Mdina with Dark Malta Tours.

18/01/2024

As I've walked around Valletta on my dark history tours, I've noticed there are two important sites in a poor state. So I've written a letter to the local council Kunsill Lokali tal-Belt Valletta and to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage about them.

The niche of St Roque is in a bad way, and he's important because he's the patron saint of plague and epidemics. That's right folks, he's the one we should have all been praying to during Covid-19.

Secondly, there's a humidity-covered glass cover in St George's Square which covers the base of what we think was for the kukkanja game, played at carnival time in the 18th Century. This saw a wooden pole erected and prizes hung from it, for men to climb and claim.

The letter I wrote said the following:

Dear Sir/Madam

I’m writing to ask whether Valletta Council, or the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, have any plans to restore two important historical monuments in Valletta, which have both fallen into disrepair.

The first is the niche of St Roque on the corner of St Ursula Street and St Christopher Street. It is in very bad condition, with the paint peeling off and the stonework distressed. It is in urgent need of repair.

The second item is the glass cover over the stone square which is thought to have been the base of the kukkanja game played at carnival time, which is found in St George’s Square. This glass cover is covered in moisture due to humidity and looks very untidy.

Given the Grand Master’s Palace has just had €40m spent on it, it’s disappointing that this glass cover just a few steps away from the entrance a) isn’t designed better to keep it clear of humidity and/or b) isn’t cleaned regularly.

Can I please ask if you have any plans for these two important historical features of Valletta to be restored? They would both help improve the streets of our capital, and help preserve significant parts of the city’s history.

So, that was my letter - I'll let you know if I get a reply!

16/01/2024

🚨NEW TOUR DATES RELEASED🚨

☠️ Dark Malta Tours is delighted to announce the release of new tour dates for the next few months, just ready and waiting to serve all of your dark needs.

😱 So whether you want to discover the spellbinding past of Birgu's witches, the bloody goings-on in Valletta's history, or the rich and miraculous stories of Mdina, you'll find a tour to thrill and to chill on the DMT website calendar - see darkmaltatours.com

🏠 Don't forget there are also all-new tours that go Behind Closed Doors, taking you off the streets and into fascinating places with their own dark histories.

🇲🇹 Don't delay, book today and discover tales of the terrible and stories of the strange from around the Maltese islands, on a guided tour that you'll never forget.

04/01/2024

Here's some photos from the first tour of 2024! Thanks to all those who came on a walk around Birgu to hear stories of witchcraft, torture, magic and murder.

To give you an idea of the content, one young man asked me afterwards: "What's the body count on this tour!?" ☠️🔪💥⚰️

Next up is The Dark History of Valletta - Walking Tour on Sunday 7 January - come along and talk a walk on the dark side!

01/01/2024

💀 2023 was the year I launched Dark Malta Tours, and it's been a darkly satisfying journey ever since.

🖤 All the time I've spent in libraries and archives, all the money I've spent on rare books, and all the hours spent reading academic papers have been made really worthwhile, because of the lovely people who have chosen to come on my tours.

🙏🏻 My deepest thanks to all those who've heard my tales of the terrible and stories of the strange around the Maltese islands. May you and your loved ones be blessed with all the very best over the coming year.

☠️ There will be all-new Dark Malta Tours coming very soon, so you can expect more darkness at your door in 2024.

12/12/2023

👑 On this day in 1830, one of Princess Diana’s relations was buried in the Maltese capital Valletta.

⚓️ Robert Cavendish Spencer was a distinguished Royal Navy captain of HMS Madagascar and a veteran of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. He died aged 39 on 4 November on board his ship while off Alexandria in Egypt. The ship then sailed to Malta and Spencer was buried there.

🙏🏻 Spencer actually has two monuments dedicated to his memory in Malta. One is an obelisk, paid for by the sailors he commanded. The other, seen here, is a replica of his sarcophagus at the site of his burial. This replica was organised by the Bank of Valletta as part of a deal when the bank took on new offices nearby.

👸🏼 Spencer was well-remembered by his sailors, but the world would know more about his great-great niece Diana Spencer, who later became the famous British princess.

☠️ Book a walking tour with Dark Malta Tours and hear more tales like this one from Malta's curious past.

28/11/2023

🖤 If you're looking for an unusual Christmas gift this year, why not give your loved ones the gift of darkness?

🎟️ You can now buy gift coupons that can be redeemed against any event or walk organised by Dark Malta Tours. Buy your coupons here: https://is.gd/0ZI9fi

🔪So treat someone special this Christmas and let them experience tales of the terrible and stories of the strange on a dark history walk that will reveal hidden secrets from Malta's fascinating past.

Give the gift of darkness to your loved ones with a Dark Malta Tours Gift Coupon. These can be redeemed against any DMT tour or event, so buy one today!

23/11/2023

☠️ On this day in 1748, the bodies of seven naked men were found floating in the sea near Gozo.

🇸🇪 These corpses were all of Swedish sailors, whose ship had sunk off the Gozitan coast in a storm the day before.

🌊 The sailors, all aged around 25, were found in the n**e because their clothes had probably been ripped off by the force of the waves in the violent storm which also took their lives.

🤖 Image by AI

16/11/2023

Delighted to have the next Secrets of St John's Co-Cathedral - Guided Tour featured in GuideMeMalta.com 🙏🏻

The next tour around this remarkable cathedral is on 25 November and more tours will be held every month afterwards.

All the dates can be found on the calendar at darkmaltatours.com Buy your tickets today!

It’s all happening on the 25th of November!

07/11/2023

There's long been a legend about a boy who was burned in an oven by his greedy relatives, a terrible tale that's said to have taken place in Palazzo Bettina in Birgu.

That building has now been lovingly restored into a boutique hotel - but what happened to the oven? And is the place really haunted? Here's my interview with the Times of Malta about the ghostly story of Palazzo Bettina.

01/11/2023

🎃 These are some of the brave souls who came to hear stories of ghosts, torture and witchcraft on an evening Halloween walk.

🧙‍♀️ What better way to spend the season of the witch than discovering the rich past of beautiful Birgu? Thanks to everyone who came along.

☠️ Book your Dark Malta Tours walk via darkmaltatours.com to hear tales of the terrible and stories of the strange, all year round.

31/10/2023

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Happy Halloween everyone 🎃👻🧙‍♀️

There's no better time to mention the legend of the boy who was pushed into an oven in Palazzo Bettina by his greedy relatives, a story that's well-known in the Birgu community.

I was interviewed by the Times of Malta about this story after the refurbished building was recently re-opened as the beautiful IBB Hotel Palazzo Bettina boutique hotel.

You can check out the article here and see my interview in the video too.

Palazzo Bettina was home to a murder mystery legend. Now it's a hotel

28/10/2023

Almost a year ago my wife Diana and I adopted a Fox Terrier called Penny from the MSPCA 🐶

Penny has changed our lives, mainly through the amount of Fuss and Cuddles that she requires at all hours of the day and night, and also because she had a rough start in life and can be an anxious little thing at times, which means she needs extra love and patience 🫶

Despite being a sweet dog, she looks like a demon when you're playing with her 😈 Still, we love her dearly.

I wanted to thank the MSPCA for looking after Penny when she was first brought in from the streets as a puppy, so I'm donating €540, which is all the proceeds from the Witchcraft and Blood in Birgu walk held at the end of October, to this excellent animal charity 💶

Penny came on the walk too and was most interested in what her Dog Dad was saying - apart from the one story I tell about a boiled puppy... 😱

Please do support the MSPCA whenever you can. They do wonderful work to help Malta's animals. We're very grateful to them for looking after Penny 🖤

18/10/2023

❓On this day in 1802, an ex*****on took a bizarre turn when the ex*****oner was executed himself - but was it just an accident?

⛪️ Earlier that same year, Francesco Mariano had stolen a silver oil lamp from St Publius church in Floriana. While in prison awaiting trial, Mariano heard there was a shortage of ex*****oners in Malta, so he volunteered to carry out a planned ex*****on on behalf of the British authorities.

☠️ Under the terms of the deal, Mariano would be released and leave Malta for good once he’d carried out the death sentence on a convicted murderer.

🔫 The method of hanging in Malta didn’t always achieve a quick death, so during the early days of British rule, the hanging man would then be shot by a British soldier, as an act of mercy.

💥 So on 18 October Mariano carried out the ex*****on at Saqqajja in Rabat. However, after the condemned man had been dropped from the gallows, the British officer drew his pistol to shoot him - and while doing so, shot Mariano dead instead.

👎 Officially this shooting was an accident, but the locals didn’t believe that story. It was widely thought that this sacrilegious theft from a church should be punished and that Mariano did not deserve to be pardoned. The mystery of what really happened has never been solved…

🤖 Image by AI

10/10/2023

On the last day of my Rhodes trip I walked along part of the wall surrounding Rhodes Old Town, built by the Knights of St John and then rebuilt by the Ottomans after they won the brutal siege of 1522.

This victory was actually achieved when the Turks cut a deal with the Order for their surrender and evacuation of Rhodes. The Ottomans even gave the knights some 50 ships so they could leave, and many of the city’s population left with them.

Huge amounts of blood were spilled on and around these walls. Some estimates say the Turks lost 103,000 men in this incredibly bloody six-month siege.

The next time the knights would build fortifications like this would be in Malta, first around Birgu and then later Valletta. So what we’re seeing here has influence further on in history that we can still see today in the Maltese islands.

06/10/2023

Before the Knights of St John were in Malta, they were in Rhodes for 214 years.

Look at these magnificent fortifications around the Old Town, as seen from the city’s moat - they’re the blueprint for what we see in the Maltese capital Valletta today.

06/10/2023

So I’m on holiday in Rhodes, but it’s also a research trip because the Knights of St John were based here before they reluctantly went to Malta in 1530.

This is my choice of holiday reading material - very on brand, I thought 😷

And yes, that is the t-shirt you think it is 😬

23/09/2023

🐉 On this day in 1555, a dragon flew over the Grand Harbour in Malta, killing hundreds and destroying ships of the Order of St John. This terrible beast was actually a tornado, which the locals named “Il-Dragun”.

🌪️ The tornado smashed up the Grand Harbour area, killing three hundred people including sailors who were aboard four galleys of the Order. It snapped a giant flagpole on top of Fort St Angelo and flung it about a mile away.

🕯️ Then, after wreaking havoc for half an hour, the wind dropped dead and absolute calm was all that was left. It’s said you could have held a candle in the street immediately after the tornado, and the flame would not have even flickered.

😢 Four of the Order’s ships were left capsized in the Birgu harbour, and when they were eventually pulled back upright, the bloated corpses of a further three hundred slaves, who had been chained to their oars, were discovered.

🌬️ There is a modern-day TORRO scale for measuring tornados, from T0 to T11. This tornado is estimated to have been T7, with winds of between 187-212mph.

🐲 A total of 600 people are thought to have died on the day The Dragon, which is what the Maltese sailors later called the tornado, tore through the Grand Harbour.

🤖 Image by AI

21/09/2023

👻 These are the souls who went on a dark walk around Mdina last night. Thanks to everyone who came to hear the city's terrible tales of terror. But as we walked around the streets, were we alone?

⚡️ One of the group sent me photographs afterwards of what she believes might be orbs, which are bursts of energy sometimes captured in photographs. Some say these transparent balls of light energy are connected to spirits.

🔵 The position of the orbs are marked out on each of the three pictures. The photographer says she's had similar orbs appear in previous pictures that she's taken in Mdina. What do you think they are?

18/09/2023

Here's some of the souls who gathered for a walk around Birgu to hear stories of spells 🧙🏻‍♀️ and spooks 👻 that are found all over the city. Thanks to everyone who came along.

Halloween will be upon us quite soon, so if you're looking for a fun and ghostly night out then book a walk around Birgu with Dark Malta Tours and hear chilling stories from Malta's dark past ☠️

16/09/2023

These are some of the souls who came Behind Closed Doors to experience Dark Tales in an Mdina Palazzo. The BCD series by Dark Malta Tours will take you into places with limited access, and this stunning property was a fantastic way to kick things off.

Our small, exclusive group heard dark stories on the streets of Malta's former capital before entering the palazzo itself, where they saw a fragment of the veil of the Virgin Mary and touched a piece of the True Cross upon which Christ was crucified, as certified by a 17th Century Pope and now embedded in an altar.

All these stories and more led us up to the roof, where we enjoyed stunning views over a glass of wine.

The next Dark Tales in an Mdina Palazzo tour takes place in November and spaces are restricted to ensure an intimate experience, so book now for this very special night via darkmaltatours.com

08/09/2023

✝️ On this day in 1775, a bunch of rebels tried to overthrow the Order of St John in Malta. The rebellion was unusual because it was led by a group of Catholic priests.

🌽 The trouble had begun a couple of years before, when Francisco Ximénez had become Grand Master of the Order. He found it in a pretty bad state financially, so he introduced austerity measures which included raising the price of corn, which greatly affected poor people who relied on bread for their food.

🐰 He also banned the hunting of hares for the common people - so as to preserve stocks for the elite who liked to hunt.

🎉 This and other issues led to a group of priests, led by Don Gaetano Mannarino, plotting against the Order. They chose 8 September as the day to rebel, because the Order’s fleet was out at sea and the knights were distracted by their annual day of celebration marking the end of the Great Siege of 1565.

⚔️ But on the day of the revolt, only 18 of the 28 rebellious clergymen showed up, plus a small number of local men, meaning a total of 64 insurgents. Mannarino decided to carry on with the uprising, and a group of 13 took over Fort St Elmo on the northern tip of Valletta. The rest of the rebels captured St James Cavalier near the entrance to the city.

👨🏻‍⚖️ However, the rebellion was quickly put down by the Order’s soldiers, as this small group couldn’t hold onto their gains for very long. Of the rebels, three were strangled to death, and the rest were either imprisoned, exiled from Malta or sent to row on the galleys. Six were pardoned.

⏳ The ringleader Mannarino was given life imprisonment. He stayed in prison for more than 20 years, eventually being released when Napoleon’s French forces took over Malta in 1798. Mannarino died in 1814, at the age of 81.

🤖 Image by AI

🎟️ Take a walk with Dark Malta Tours to learn more about the island’s dark past. The next tour is Stories of the Strange - Valletta Walking Tour Book for that now to hear more strange tales like this one.

28/08/2023

The act of abortion is illegal in most cases in Malta today, but it was first formally banned here centuries ago by the Knights of St John.

There were specific penalties for doctors and midwives who helped a woman take an abortive substance, such as slavery and even banishment from the islands of Malta or Gozo.

Here's my video for SideStreet Malta on the early origins of our abortion laws.

24/08/2023

These brave souls came to hear about the witches who were once tried in Birgu and the ghosts that now roam around the place.

Thanks to all those who took my latest dark history walk around the charming streets of this ancient city, one of Malta’s gems.

Book your place on a walking tour, to hear tales of the terrible and stories of the strange, via darkmaltatours.com

23/08/2023

*Warning - graphic content*

On this day in 1960 the body of eight-year-old Twannie Aquilina was found in his family’s flat in Valletta. His head had been almost entirely cut off.

Twannie lived in a small, two-room flat with his mother Ġiġa, sister Carmen and stepfather Leli. He was said to be a shy, quiet boy.

His murder shocked the nation. Soon after his body was discovered, both Ġiġa and Leli were arrested and charged with his murder, which they both denied. The photographs show both adults entering the scene of the crime, accompanied by police, in the days after Twannie died.

Their trial heard how Twannie would be sent to school with little or no food, and how he was beaten regularly, once being tied to his flat’s balcony and burned with ci******es by Leli.

The court-appointed doctors also testified how Twannie had been beaten with a deadbolt, a lump of metal taken from a door. These medical experts confirmed he was still alive, albeit possibly unconscious, when his neck was cut, meaning his beheading was how he actually died.

His sister Carmen, who was eight when she testified in court, gave damning evidence against her parents, saying she saw them wash their clothes and a bedspread in the washing machine, which was later found to contain traces of blood.

Ġiġa was sentenced to death for murdering her son, but that was quickly commuted to life imprisonment. She was later released after 10 years. Leli was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour but he too was released early.

Ġiġa spent the rest of her life venerating Twannie and filled her small room in Bormla with candles and photographs of him. In the only interview she ever gave, Ġiġa insisted she was innocent, and declared that her was was a martyr and a saint.

Carmen, now an adult living in Australia, has in recent years retracted her statement, saying her parents were innocent.

No one has ever lived in the family’s Valletta flat ever since, which remains derelict to this day.

21/08/2023

Just spent a remarkable morning at The National Archives of Malta looking through the records of the country’s mental asylum.

I tell the tale on my Valletta tours of how a man called Ġiovanni Paris murdered a woman he was obsessed with.

With the help of the incredible staff at the archives, I found a hand-written and signed note from the killer. He wrote it on 21 August - the same date as when I was holding it, so 103 years (not 118 as I said before…) to the very day that he wrote it.

Paris was sent to the local asylum for his crime but none of the doctors, not even the ones at his trial, thought he was insane. So how do you keep a man who isn’t a lunatic in an asylum?

The answer is fascinating - come on my Dark History of Valletta tours to find out what it is.

18/08/2023

😞 On this day in 1608, the brilliant Renaissance artist Caravaggio gatecrashed a party in Malta to which he wasn’t invited. It didn’t end well.

🧑🏽‍🎨 Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, is one of the greatest artists of all time, famous for his vivid expressions of violence, torture, and death.

🎨 He came to Malta in July 1607, having fled Rome after killing a man. He began painting for the Knights of St John, who made him a lower-ranking knight and delighted in the stunning artwork he created for them.

🖼️ This included The Beheading of St John the Baptist, the largest painting Caravaggio ever did and the only one he ever signed.

🎉 He hoped the knights would eventually secure his pardon with the Pope. However, things didn’t go to plan. Fra Prospero Coppini, an organist at what is today known as St John’s Co-Cathedral, threw a party on 18 August.

🤺 Caravaggio, who loved to party, was most annoyed at his lack of an invite and went round to Coppini’s house. He tried to break down the front door, then got into a fight with another knight and wounded him.

☠️ The next day Caravaggio was arrested and imprisoned in Fort St Angelo. A couple of months later he escaped from the fort, probably by using ropes to climb down the high walls. He slipped away to Sicily, but less than two years later he was dead. The cause is still a mystery.

🖌️The images shown are of Medusa - a self-portrait done outside of Malta by Caravaggio, drawing on his tortured state of mind - and a chalk drawing of him by another artist.

🎟️ Take the Secrets of St John's Co-Cathedral - Guided Tour to see the two paintings by Caravaggio that are still in Malta. Book your place today!

17/08/2023

Dark Malta Tours now has 1,000 followers on Facebook! 🎉

These tours, and their social media, only launched about three months ago and yet they've reached this milestone already 🪦

A big thank you to everyone who's followed the page 🖤 and to those who've come on my dark history walks around the Maltese islands🚶🏻‍♂️🇲🇹🚶‍♀️

Things really are more interesting on the dark side of life ☠️🔪👻