At the start of World War II, the Allied forces immediately recognized that the islands of Malta would be strategically important. Located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea just south of Italy, the islands could be used both to control shipping and to command landing forces in Southern Europe. Hence, in 1940, the U.K. military secretly excavated a set of tunnels 150 feet under Valletta, which are now called the Lascaris War Rooms.
This complex housed the British military’s headquarters and was initially used to coordinate the military defense of the island, particularly the air defenses, as the Axis forces heavily bombed the islands starting in June 1940. A couple of the larger rooms within the complex, such as the two-story Sector Operations Room, had tables with maps that could be used to track Allied and Axis airplanes, while other rooms contained communications equipment for coordinating the islands’ defenses. Later in the war, the Allied commanders planned and coordinated the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) within another two-story room within the complex that featured a giant map of Sicily.
After World War II ended, the complex continued to be militarily important. First, the British Navy used the tunnels as their Mediterranean Fleet Headquarters. Then, starting in 1967, the underground complex was used by NATO to track the movement of submarines through the Mediterranean Sea. The complex was closed in 1977.
In 2009, the Malta Heritage Trust began restoration works on the underground compound, which now operates as a museum. The rooms mainly contain items from World War II, including the large maps used for tracking plane movements and coordinating the military forces, the vintage telephone and radio equipment, and the boards used to track the activities of the Allied pilots. The room used for planning Operation Husky even contain mannequins of General Eisenhower and the other generals and admirals involved in the invasion. This restoration has truly recreated the atmosphere of the complex during World War II.
Know Before You Go
The Lascaris War Rooms are located under the Upper Barracca Gardens and the Saluting Battery near the south corner of Valletta. Finding the location is somewhat challenging. The museum recommends several different routes.
The most direct route may be to go to the Saluting Battery through the Upper Barracca Gardens, buy tickets there, and get directions to a set of tunnels leading to the Lascaris War Rooms.
The second route is to go to the intersection of Triq Sant’ Orsla and Triq Il-Batterija and then follow the signs leading from there through some of the older fortifications to the tunnel containing the museum.
The third route would be to go to the far east end of Herbert Ganado Gardens and look for the tunnel with the sign for the Lascaris War Rooms; this leads to another open space below the city walls with an entrance to the tunnel containing the museum itself. A variant on the third route would be to take the stairs from near Valletta’s main city gate into Valletta Ditch and then to follow the ditch south and then east to reach the tunnel going to the Lascaris War Rooms.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday. An admission fee is charged to enter the museum. Note that the museum contains multiple flights of stairs and is not wheelchair accessible.
