What the Banca Giuratale is

The building was put up from 1726 as part of a wider scheme launched by Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena, designed by the architect Mondion, and it served as the seat of the islands' civil administration under the body known variously as the Università, the Consiglio Popolare and the town hall. Its purpose was practical rather than ceremonial: it housed the offices of the civil government of Malta rather than the Knights' own palace.

After the civil administration moved out, the building was put to other uses, including a period as an elementary school from 1881 and later a secondary school, before it was restored in 1986 and taken over for the National Archives of Malta project. It was formally opened for that purpose in October 1988. Expect a working archive and a piece of Mdina's street architecture rather than a polished visitor attraction.

The building is listed as a national monument and appears in the national inventory of cultural property of the Maltese islands.

Where it stands in Mdina

The Banca Giuratale is on Triq San Pawl, Mdina's main street, and the building is recorded at the address VCP3+C89. It sits inside the city walls; walking up from the cathedral square, the entrance is on the right-hand side of Triq San Pawl.

Because it is a short step from the cathedral and the main square, it slots naturally into any walk around Mdina. For the full set of sights, from the palazzi to the museum collections, see the wider guide to Mdina Attractions.

How to walk there from Mdina Main Gate

Start at the Mdina gate, the main entrance through the walls. Walk straight along Triq il-Mużew until the street opens into the square in front of the cathedral, turn right into Triq San Pawl, and continue about 100 metres; the Banca Giuratale entrance is on your right-hand side.

The walk from the gate to the building is short, and once through the gate everything in Mdina is walkable, so there is no transport leg to arrange inside the walls. For the gate itself and the approach from outside, see the Mdina Gate page.

What to see inside

The building holds the records of the courts of the Knights' period, running from 1535 to 1899, which were previously kept at the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta before being transferred here. That gives the place its character: an archive of legal material rather than a museum display.

Under the National Memory Project, the Banca Giuratale also brings together a National Portrait Archive of prominent Maltese figures, a photographic archive covering more than 90,000 images, and a film and sound archive that includes digitised wartime footage and old 78 rpm recordings of Maltese popular music. The project was launched in March 2004.

The building has also been used for digitisation agreements with outside institutions, including a project with the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library of St John's University begun in 2007 covering the records of the Magna Curia Castelleaniae.

Set your expectations accordingly: the interest here is the Baroque shell, the location and the scale of what is held, not an exhibition with labels and captions. Access to the interior is a matter for the National Archives, so plan on admiring the building from Triq San Pawl unless the archive confirms otherwise. If you want a collection laid out for visitors, the museum at the cathedral and the historic house at Palazzo Falson are better uses of an hour.

How long to allow

Treat the Banca Giuratale as a ten to twenty minute stop, mostly spent looking at the façade from the street, rather than a destination in its own right. Mdina rewards a half-day overall, and this building is one item within that half-day rather than a replacement for the cathedral or the palazzi. If you are short of time, the walk past it on Triq San Pawl costs you nothing and still shows you the outside.

Early morning and late afternoon are calmer inside the walls, when the day-trippers thin out and the streets between the gate and the cathedral square are easier to walk. Pair the visit with the other stops in the same quarter: the things to do in Mdina guide groups them by street, and Bastion Square is the natural place to end a loop in the late afternoon.

Tickets and opening hours

Entry arrangements, opening hours and any ticket price are set by the National Archives of Malta, so check its own pages before you travel rather than relying on third-party listings. The building works as an archive, and access to reading rooms can differ from what a passer-by finds at the door.

Be wary of listings that describe the Banca Giuratale as a museum or as a former bank: it was built as a civil administration hall and is now an archive, and the practical information on such pages may not match what you find on the day.

What is nearby

St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina stands at the top of Triq San Pawl, a couple of minutes from the Banca Giuratale, and its adjoining Mdina Cathedral Museum holds a separate collection worth a visit. Between the two you can fill an hour without leaving the same street.

Palazzo Falson sits a few minutes away and gives you the furnished interior and collection that the Banca Giuratale does not; Casa Gourgion and Palazzo Santa Sofia are further palazzi in the same compact grid of streets, each a short walk from Triq San Pawl.

For a change of register, the National Museum of Natural History occupies Palazzo Vilhena, a Grand Baroque building with its own courtyard, and Mdina Dungeons offers a very different kind of visit closer to St Paul's Square. Both are within a few minutes of the Banca Giuratale and give you options if the archive itself is closed when you arrive.

Greek's Gate, in the northern wall of the city, gives you a quieter entry or exit from Mdina if you arrive on foot from Rabat and want to avoid the main gate. It is a few minutes' walk from the Banca Giuratale.

Is the Banca Giuratale worth the stop?

Yes, as a short stop on the walk up Triq San Pawl, not as the reason to come to Mdina. Give it ten to twenty minutes, look at the façade and the interior, and spend the rest of your half-day on the cathedral, Palazzo Falson and the walls.