National Museum of Archaeology

If you want to understand Malta before the Knights, this is the place to begin. The National Museum of Archaeology sits in Valletta's Auberge de Provence, a Baroque building dating from 1571, not far from St John's Co-Cathedral, and its galleries trace the islands' story from the Neolithic period, between 5900 and 2500 BC, up to the early Phoenician era in the 8th to 6th centuries BC.

The museum is run by Heritage Malta and appears in our directory of museums in Malta. Start on the ground floor and work your way up. It makes a sensible first stop before visiting the island's prehistoric sites, and with its mix of prehistoric objects, Baroque architecture and hands-on facilities it fits easily into a day in the capital (see also things to do in Malta) described in our Valletta guide.

The ground floor: Neolithic Malta

The ground floor is given over to the Neolithic period. Here are the earliest tools and vessels the first islanders used for daily tasks, along with animal and human figures that show how skilled those early artists were and offer a glimpse of everyday life.

Much of the collection comes from Malta's UNESCO-listed megalithic temples and from the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum. Highlights include the Sleeping Lady, the Venus of Malta and the colossal statue from the Ħal Tarxien complex. To see the places these objects came from, read our guides to the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and the Ħaġar Qim temples, or our directory pages for the Hypogeum visitor listing and Ħaġar Qim Archaeological Site.

The upper floors: Bronze Age and Phoenicians

Upstairs you find a collection of skulls from the Hypogeum, dating to the Neolithic period, which were excavated first under Fr Emmanuel Magri and later by Sir Themistocles Zammit. The upper floor also holds the Bronze Age and Phoenician sections, where objects range from small ritual vessels to funerary urns and amphorae.

Phoenician glass and gold items sit beside a very large terracotta sarcophagus, which has pride of place. The Cippus of Malta, which helped scholars decipher the Phoenician alphabet, is shown on the second floor next to a copy of the Louvre Cippus.

The building and the Gran Salon

The Auberge of Provence housed the langue of Provence, one of the divisions of the Order of St John, and the building is an attraction in its own right. On the upper floor the Gran Salon is a very large painted hall with decoration from the early 1800s. It is used for national exhibitions and events such as conferences, fashion shows, photoshoots and television filming. For the story of the order, see our Knights of Malta guide.

The museum also stages temporary exhibitions, usually drawing on its reserve collection. It holds a large archive of papers from the early Museums Department and a collection of photographic glass negatives.

Visiting: tickets, access and facilities

Tickets cost €5.00 for adults aged 18 and over, €3.50 for youths aged 12 to 17, €2.50 for children aged 6 to 11, and nothing for infants aged 1 to 5. Heritage Malta members and passport holders have their own categories, and you can book online.

Audio guides are available in Maltese, English, Chinese, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, French, Japanese and Polish. There is a gift shop, a seating area indoors and outdoors, lockers, a nappy changing facility and a children's room, where a child must be accompanied by an adult. All areas are fully accessible for visitors with mobility impairments, and accessible toilets are provided.

The museum is autism friendly, with designated quiet spaces, and sets aside Wednesdays from 1pm to 4pm for visitors who prefer a calmer visit. A sensory map and a social story can be downloaded in advance. If you need a base, see our guide to hotels in Valletta. To ask a question, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message on.