Inquisitor's Palace

The Inquisitor's Palace stands on Triq Pawlu Boffa in Birgu (Vittoriosa), in Malta's Grand Harbour area. Originally built in the 16th century, it served as the seat of the Roman Inquisition in Malta until 1798, and it is one of the few surviving inquisitorial palaces in Europe that is open to the public. Heritage Malta now runs it as a museum. Visitors walk through a sequence of spaces that show both the legal and domestic sides of the building: the courtrooms where cases were heard, the prison cells with graffiti left by prisoners, and the inquisitors' own apartments, furnished and decorated for the officials who lived and worked there. The building has a courtyard and gardens, and an exhibition describes the Inquisition's role in Maltese society, as well as the later uses of the palace, including as a military hospital and an ethnographic museum. A visit takes about an hour. The palace is a short walk, around five minutes, from the Birgu waterfront, where buses from Valletta and Seabus ferries arrive. It combines easily with Fort St Angelo and the Collegiate Church of St Lawrence for a half-day in Birgu. Heritage Malta lists hours as normally 09:00 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:30, but the adult price is not published on the museum's page, so visitors should check heritagemalta.mt/store or ask at the entrance. Photography in the interiors follows Heritage Malta's rules, which staff can explain. The narrow rooms mean a handful of groups can feel crowded, so morning or early afternoon visits outside peak cruise hours tend to be more comfortable.