The gun on the Saluting Battery, below the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta, is fired at noon and again at 4pm, every day.
Watching from the gardens above costs nothing. It is one of the few free things in Valletta that happens to a timetable.
Firing times
- 12:00 — the midday gun, the busier of the two.
- 16:00 — the same ceremony, far fewer people.
The crew comes out about 15 minutes before each firing and goes through the loading in front of you. That build-up is most of the show.
Where to stand
Along the railing at the front of the Upper Barrakka Gardens. You look straight down on the gun crew and out across the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities.
Get there 10 minutes early between June and September. The front row fills and the gardens have very little shade at midday.
The 4pm firing is the easier one in summer. Same gun, same crew, and you can usually walk straight to the railing.
Going down onto the battery
You can pay to stand on the battery itself, beside the guns. It is much louder and you see the loading close up.
The view is better from the gardens above, so this is worth it for the ceremony rather than the photograph. Children who dislike bangs should stay upstairs.
The battery is run by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna and the entrance is down the steps to the left of the gardens.
Why the gun fires
The battery saluted arriving ships and marked the time for the harbour below. Ships set their clocks by it.
That mattered more than it sounds. A wrong clock meant a wrong longitude, and a wrong longitude put a ship on the rocks.
It is one of the oldest saluting batteries still working anywhere.
What else is right here
- The Barrakka Lift drops from the gardens to the quay in seconds, and the Three Cities ferry leaves from the bottom.
- The Lascaris War Rooms are cut into the rock directly beneath you.
- Castille Place and the Auberge de Castille are a two-minute walk back up.
Doing the gun at noon, then the lift down and the ferry across, is the most efficient hour in Valletta.
