Casa Rocca Piccola

Casa Rocca Piccola is a 16th-century aristocratic palace in the heart of Valletta, still privately owned and inhabited by the Maltese noble family de Piro. The current Marquis opens the residence daily, guiding visitors through more than 50 lavishly furnished rooms filled with ancestral portraits, silverware, suits of armour, and personal heirlooms that trace centuries of Maltese nobility. The underground WWII bomb shelters are among the most compelling rooms in the house — they preserve the conditions in which Valletta's civilian population sought refuge during Axis bombardments in the early 1940s. Guided tours and audio tours run Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm; the La Giara Restaurant in the courtyard and a resident parrot add a distinctly lived-in character rare among palace museums.