13 Facts About Mdina

Mdina, known by its Italian-language titles and, is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Malta which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period.

Mdina experienced a period of decline over the following centuries, although it saw a revival in the early 18th century.

Mdina remained the centre of the Maltese nobility and religious authorities, but it never regained its pre-1530 importance, giving rise to the popular nickname the "Silent City" by both locals and visitors.

Mdina is on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it is one of the main tourist attractions in Malta.

Plateau on which Mdina is built has been inhabited since prehistory, and by the Bronze Age it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible.

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Mdina was killed in the fighting, and Sawada Ibn Muhammad was sent from Sicily to continue the siege following his death.

Mdina still has features typical of a medina, a legacy of the period of Arab rule.

Mdina was comparatively small and partly uninhabited and by 1419, it was already outgrown by its suburb, Rabat.

Under Aragonese rule, local government rested on the Universita, a communal body based in Mdina, which collected taxation and administered the islands' limited resources.

Mdina suffered severe damage during the 1693 Sicily earthquake, although no casualties were reported the 13th-century Cathedral of St Paul was partially destroyed, and it was rebuilt by Lorenzo Gafa in the Baroque style between 1697 and 1703.

The last major addition to the Mdina fortifications was Despuig Bastion, which was completed in 1746.

Today, Mdina is one of Malta's major tourist attractions, hosting about 750,000 tourists a year.

Mdina Gate, designed by the French architect Charles Francois de Mondion in 1724.