History of the Opera House

The Royal Opera House in Malta was at one time one of the most familiar and much loved theatrical venues in the Mediterranean.

Originally erected in 1866 this building and the subsequent bombsite has been subject to much controversy and debate over the years.

These pages tell the history of Malta’s Opera house from drawings and plans in the 1850s to 1860s, through its early life and initial destruction by fire, through its halcyon days from the 1870s to 1942 when it was largely destroyed by enemy bombing.

This is a work in continual development whilst long-term research brings more fascinating stories to light of this once famous venue. A good point of reference for initial research has been Joseph Bonnici’s and Michael Cassar’s book ‘The Opera House Malta’ as well as endless sources of archive from Malta and The British Library in London. Also invaluable input from individual archivists and historians as well as members of the public who in one way or another have a connection with what has become the oldest bombsite in Europe.

An interesting source of archive is the range of old newspapers that have carried countless reports of the life of the Opera House as an functioning theatre and as a ruined bombsite. The pages of these papers make fascinating reading. For example on the right we can see the Birmingham Daily Post and Journal in December 1888 reporting on a bomb scare at the Theatre (of which more later).

If you have any pictures, details, recollections or family memories of the Opera house we would be fascinated to hear from you. You can contact its website by writing to here and we look forward to hearing from you.

More detailed information and pages will be added in the near future.

Out of interest, there is an interesting collection of mainly 19th century photographs of Malta (predomanently Valletta) here.