Inquisitor's Palace

The Inquisitor's Palace stands on Main Gate Street in Birgu, one of the Three Cities. It was built around the 1530s and first housed the Castellania, the civil tribunal set up by Grand Master Juan de Homedes in 1543. When the court moved to the new city of Valletta in 1572, the building was handed over to the first Inquisitor, Pietro Dusina, who arrived two years later as the delegate of Pope Gregory XIII. The Inquisition remained until the French abolished it on their arrival in 1798.

The palace was one of the three centres of power in early modern Malta. Heritage Malta now runs it as both a historic house museum and the National Museum of Ethnography, with a wing for the National Textiles Collection.

Inside the palace

The visit has three parts. On the ground floor are the domestic quarters and a historic kitchen. The piano nobile holds the official halls and the private rooms of the inquisitors. The third part covers the Holy Office itself: the tribunal chamber, the torture chamber and the prison complex. Heritage Malta notes that, contrary to popular belief, torture was used in less than 1 percent of cases in Malta, and the museum is good at separating legend from record.

Hours and tickets (as of November 2026)

• As of November 2026, check Heritage Malta's current timetable before visiting. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing; holiday closures also apply.
• Tickets are EUR 6 for adults, EUR 4.50 for youths, seniors and students, EUR 3 for children (6 to 11), with infants free.

Expect uneven floors, low lighting and low doorways, and some areas are not fully accessible to visitors with reduced mobility. The palace is a few minutes' walk uphill from Fort St Angelo, so the two make an easy half-day in Birgu, with lunch on the waterfront in between.