Museums and Heritage Sites

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

This former magisterial palace houses a small but nevertheless informative natural history museum with seven sections, comprising local and foreign collections. These include skeletal anatomy, birds, fish, insects, shells, fossils and items of geological interest. The palace, Palazzo Vilhena, is itself impressive. Before being damaged by the great 1693 earthquake, it was the seat of the Universita', a form of local self-government granted Maltese nobility by the islands' medieval rulers. After reconstruction in magnificent baroque style, it became the summer seat of Grand Master Vilhena. Under British rule, the palace was then used as a military hospital.