The Historic Destination with the Coloured Doors
With a history dating back to the times of the Knights of St John, the Valletta Waterfront seamlessly combines dining, shopping and entertainment within a maritime hub. The destination commands some of the Islands’ most impressive views and has proved to be a highly popular destination with locals, cruise passengers and land-based tourists alike over the last years.
The iconic edifices of the Valletta Waterfront, located in Valletta’s majestic Grand Harbour, were built in 1752 by Grandmaster Emanuel Pinto da Fonseca and designed by Andrea Belli. The 19 spacious warehouses, still known as ‘Pinto Stores’, were built to support harbour activities, to be used as stores by the Knights of Malta and other merchants. A large bronze bust of the Grand Master was placed above the portal of the middle warehouse. When this bust was ceremoniously unveiled on the evening of 10 August 1752, the whole wharf was lighted with torches as part of a majestic water carnival, with activities including a full orchestra on a barge. These buildings complemented the already-existent Forni Stores representing some of the earliest surviving maritime warehouse structures in Malta, with origins dating back to the early 17th and 18th centuries.