Casa Rocca Piccola is a 16th century palace and living museum. Built over 400 years ago for Don Pietro La Rocca, a Knight of Malta, it is now the ancestral home of the de Piro family, a Maltese Noble family. The palace contains over 50 rooms, many of which are open for viewing. The house is furnished with collections of furniture, silver and paintings from Malta and Europe. There are literally hundreds of magnificent objects to see including modern paintings interspersed with the ancestral portraits of the Marquises de Piro and the Barons of Budach. Under Casa Rocca Piccola a network of tunnels were cut out from the rock and used in World War II as air raid shelters. Over 100 people sheltered here from the bombs that poured on Valletta. Live guided tours in English (pre-booking recommended) or audio self-tours in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish are included with your entrance ticket. Restrooms, a bookshop and La Giara restaurant are available on site.
Very interesting tour filled with history passed through generations. Met the current resident in a surprise appearance and Kiku III in the courtyard. Nice gentleman. Beautiful palace and well preserved.
The palace was not as grand as I expected. The guide did give us some interesting history. The most interesting was the bomb shelter below the palace. It was a quick tour. This is not a must see; but I don’t regret visiting it
Excellent - very knowledgeable guide who was never rushed,
100% recommend visiting this historic home. One of the only ones left in the city. It retains its lived in vibe which made it feel more like your visiting a residence rather than a museum. If you’re lucky, you may even get a private tour from the owner!
Awesome experience. A hidden gem in the heart of Valletta with a very interesting guided tour that I recommend
Casa Rocca Piccola is slightly hidden away and off the main tourist track in Valletta, but it is not to be missed. We took the guided tour and Anna was a superb host. The place is loaded with personality - still owned by the same family having been owned by them for several hundred years. The air raid shelters, dug beneath the cellars for local people to use, are particularly memorable.
Lovely place, Interesting guiding and delicious coffee. I found some polish accents which made this visit even more enjoyable. I recommend
Wonderful, very interesting, good guide. Lovely garden
Beautiful house giving a unique look into the life of a Maltese noble family. Guided tour takes approximately 45/50 minutes and is super informative and very well presented. Self guided audio tours were also available. Lovely cafe on site and you can sip your coffee in the gorgeous courtyard with Kiku the 3rd, the family macaw.
I'd recommend getting the guide, who does hourly sessions on the hour, for a fascinating tour around both an historic building and a home. Add the underground bunkers and Kuku the parrot = fabulous.
Beautiful collection of Maltese treasures.. loved the opportunity to see how the family lived throughout the generations.
Really lovely place and very interesting with the World War II Bunker. Beautiful garden area and great cafe. Fully guided but he did rush it so you felt as though it was over very quickly.
We had a very exciting visit there. We by chance met the owner a Marquis of this amazing palace. We were a group of five people going through this palace and seeing as I was born in Malta many years ago, he gave us the royal treatment. Much better than a tour guide.
Visited this attraction, as something to do out of the heat. Interesting place with objects, artwork and outdoor garden... Very surprising to visit underground part.
We were trying to find something a little different to do on one of our cruise stops and this little gem was just what we had in mind. The tour guide was fantastic and knowledgeable, and the history of the place was so cool. Would definitely recommend and would go back in a heartbeat.
A small beautiful home. Full of character. Guide made it interesting and enjoyable. Worthwhile visit.
This is a terrible place to visit. Don't be fooled by the photo's, it's nothing like that now. Everything is porly set out and staff are very unhelpfull. Save your money and go somewhere else.
This is such an awesome place! Don't miss it if you are visiting Valletta! It gives you an insight into the lives of Maltese aristocracy in the olden days, and much more. We spent far more time here than we expected, and we are sorry we didn't know of this place before booking our trip as apparently they have a BnB which I am sure would be far better than the hotel we stayed at.
The house is owned by a noble family with centuries of history in Valetta. It is interesting to see their lovely home. It takes about 45 minutes if you take your time. The summer dining room was the highlight.
Excellent house with an abundance of antiques made more interesting as were guided by the wife of the current owners who have a private apartment above
Our guide was both knowledgeable and funny! Lots of wonderful stories as well as information! The site was fascinating with so many layers of history from the 17th century to the present.
It would have been nice to have been given more information about the ancestors and their lives in Valletta and Malta more widely.
Beautiful decor and amazing collection of items. Would highly recommend to escape the heat for a few hours. My sister was especially enamoured with the parrot.
Fabulous little gem in the centre of Valletta. You can look around the house on your own but I would highly recommend booking on the tour with a guide. So informative!
- Daniela is a very nice tour guide - Dining room is wonderful - Small group - The palace is close to the city centre
After a few minutes confusion about our booking we were delighted to be conducted around the palace by the Marquis himself - an erudite, charming, droll and deeply knowledgeable host. It is a beautiful building, with an interesting history, but much of the pleasure of the visit was the variety of stories that seemed to be attached to every article on display. There are many of them. Paintings, furniture and collectibles all had a history. We relished hearing a good number of them from the man himself. Many others remained untold, perhaps for another visit. What a privilege and treat!
Splendid historic home of nobility. Stephen was poised articulate and knowledgeable. Great way to get a glimpse into Maltese nobility.
Great experience, and I would highly recommend it. The guide is wonderful, he introduced Malta to us in a very interesting way.
The visit was fascinating. In particular the guide was perfectly knowledgable and wound together the stories of the inhabitants and family throughout the ages with all the treasury of artefacts and paintings in the house.
Really interesting house. Great audio which gave perfect explanations of each room. Seeing the underground cellars were amazing and interesting. A great insight into the family and how they lived.
A lovely and special house to visit. The black and yellow Bently was a beaty. Next time visting Valletta we will book here for B&B.
Nice home loaded with antiques. Cool parrot Was good value for money. Nice guide pretty furniture and light fixtures
The palace is amazing; Great guide (Stephen); Loved each and everyone the rooms visited; Good information about the family history and present; The Bentley stored in the garage is a must see!
Our visit to Casa Rocca Piccola was wonderful. The house is spectacular, and cosy at the same time. We were honoured to have been shown around by the owner himself and his passion and love of family and home were palpable, making the experience memorable. The cost was reasonable, few people around as it opened for the day, easily accessible on foot. I was unable to access the underground tunnels but family members assured me it was fascinating, confirmed by photographs. With the beautiful parrot to greet you in the courtyard there was something for everyone to enjoy. Cannot praise highly enough.
Amazing place that is so much bigger inside than it looks from the outside. Tour guide was great - kept us moving from room to room with the history of the house and interesting bits of information. Internal garden just beautiful. Didn’t realise there were tunnels below, we had just seen some old tunnels but these were spacious in comparison also there was a friendly parrot and turtles in the garden
Time trip in a past. Nice palace and good collections of silver, furniture and family paintings. Underground shelters are also interesting to visit
This was a wonderful tour of a palace in Malta. Our guide was knowledgeable and interesting, and the owners of the palace walked through during our tour. The most interesting part was the bomb shelter and the underground tunnels. We highly recommend this tour.
It was fascinating to discover the history of this proud Maltese family through the ages. The dining room and the bomb shelters were the highlights. However, it was clear that the fabric of some of the rooms was in need of maintenance. It must be an expensive business keeping on top of wear and tear, particularly damp. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and were fortunate to meet the current owner, an extremely charming gentleman. Thank you.
They have a parrot that has its wings clipped and it just stands in one spot in the courtyard all day. There’s ivory artifacts all over the house. In general, it’s just got 1700’s period piece villain vibes, especially after learning it isn’t just a living museum but the actual house of the family still
I was in awe after visiting this house museum. I really like museums and visit them all around the world. But this one just made me so overjoyed and happy. The authenticity, representation and allowing the visitor to experience what it means to live in such a breathtaking house was magical. Thank you for the opportunity.
A fascinating old house in the middle of the city. The tour guide has a lot to work with given the history of the home. If you’ve taken the major tours of Valletta. This would be a good addition to your itinerary.
Excellent museum came across it and was very impressed Still set out very much as a home rather than a museum Easy to get round but if you wish to see the air raid shelters the steps are very steep but worth seeing if you can
Me and my girlfriend came to Malta to visit my daughter who is living on the island. We divided our trip to stay in the center in Saint Jullians halfway, then we went to Mellieha and in the end to Marsaxlokk. On one of our tours in Valletta we visited the Casa Rocca Piccola. The 16th-century palace is home to the noble Maltese family of Piro. We entered one of the daily guided visits that take place from 10:00 to 17:00. The palace includes a local accommodation with 5 bedrooms, a bunker from the second war, a café the Efervencense and the restaurant La Giara Restaurant. It was built in 1580, after the Knights of St. John defeated the Great Siege and the Turkish invasion in 1565. In the late 18th century, changes were made to divide the house into two smaller ones. Other changes were made in 1918 and, before World War II, an anti-aircraft shelter was added, the second anti-aircraft shelter being excavated in Malta. Furnished with collections of furniture, grocery, paintings and works of art from Malta. The archives of Piro's family are kept in the Archive Room of the Casa Rocca Piccola, with records of family and state business from the late 16th century to the present day. These are commercial contracts, marriage contracts, accounts, wills and judicial proceedings. The files were usedfor research projects at the University of Malta and the University of Oxford. Casa Rocca Piccola houses the largest private collection of ancient costumes in Malta. There are formal and informal costumes from the 18th to the 20th centuries.[13] Malta has a long tradition in the manufacture of rent. Casa Rocca Piccola houses the largest private collection of Maltese income. The rent was used in different ways for different occasions, both religious and secular. Casa Rocca Piccola founded and hosted the HSBC Malta Annual Rental Competition.[14] The Casa Rocca Piccola has tenants since the 16th century and now hosts the boutique hotel pousada. It was very worth the visit, I recommend...
An interesting tour that provides insight into a manor house from the 16th century.
Very good visit that allows to discover typical houses as well as know a little about the hidden life of the owners at that time.
Abitazione privata spettacolare. Le varie stanze sono una meraviglia. Ti incanti già guardando la prima e poi uno spettacolo dietro l'altro. Se sei fortunato puoi incontrare l'ultimo proprietario che ti accoglie nella sua casa. Poi vai in giardino e scendi nel rifugio antiaereo e torni indietro nel tempo
It may seem like a boring museum-palazzo beforehand... However, after the first steps you realize that you are entering a special house with very special residents. They give you a glimpse into their private environment over the centuries. The Guide is knowledgeable and very knowledgeable. Recommended to take an hour to choose the tour with the Guide. Have fun!!
very nice palace, to do especially for the subterranes of the war, it is absolutely necessary to take the comments in your language
A pleasant place to visit full of historical moments which are both exciting and relaxing. The little extra KiKu the parrot accompanied by a turtle in the garden. I recommend 🤩🤩
Nice and personal reception. The history and curiosities of the home were told with great commitment. The tour was a positive surprise. Highly recommended.
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