Mdina Dungeons Museum – Mdina, Malta - Atlas Obscura
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Mdina Dungeons Museum

Mdina, Malta

See Malta’s history told through the recreation of scenes of torture using life-sized mannequins in a former medieval dungeon. 

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An executioner standing over the decapitated head of a prisoner. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
An executioner standing over the decapitated head of a prisoner. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A torturer branding another person. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A mannequin hanging in a cage. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
The entrance to the museum. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A mannequin hanging from his ankles in the museum. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
Mannequins displaying various shame masks and other forms of public humiliation. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A depiction of a man being tortured on a rack by the Inquisition with an informative placard about the Inquisition in the background. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A man being tortured on a wooden horse (also called a Spanish donkey). Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
A skeleton in a hanging iron cage. Dark Nebula Deluxe (Atlas Obscura User)
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Not all of Malta’s history museums are serious.  The Mdina Dungeons Museum has taken a much campier approach to teaching history that would appeal to people who enjoy the Horrible History series.

The museum is located within the historic walled city of Mdina underneath the Magisterial Palace (also known as the Vilhena Palace).  The construction of this building was commissioned in the 1720s by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, leader of the Knights of St. John and ruler of the islands of Malta at the time.  The Knights of St. John, who controlled Malta from 1530 to 1798, used this building as a law court; the basement would have been used to imprison and interrogate people.

In the centuries after the Knights of St. John ceased to rule the islands, the building was used for various other purposes until the top floors were converted into a museum and opened as the National Museum of Natural History in 1973.  The basement level is now occupied by the unaffiliated Mdina Dungeons Museum.

The former dungeon has been redecorated with realistic scenes of torture that include medieval torture devices and mannequins, and some of these mannequins are shown bleeding or disfigured from the acts inflicted on them by other mannequins.  The scenes within the museum progress from the Roman era to the brief Arab period and then to the rule of the Knights of St. John until concluding with Napoleonic France’s brief invasion of the islands.

 

However, while the scenes of torture might be used to lure people in, the museum also includes placards describing the general historical context of the torture or other scenes of suffering depicted within the museum.  In other words, the Mdina Dungeons Museum is educational while still being entertaining for people who enjoy viewing gory recreations of torture.

Know Before You Go

The Mdina Dungeons Museum can be found immediately on the right (or to the east) upon entering Mdina through the Mdina Gate.  The museum is located down a flight of stairs with a ticket booth at the top of the stairs.  Note that the museum is not wheelchair accessible.

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