The old capital sits walled on a hill at the centre of the island with fewer than three hundred residents, and they call it the Silent City because once the coaches leave you can hear your own footsteps on the stone. You enter through the Baroque gate of 1724 and wander lanes of Norman palaces and enclosed timber balconies; from the bastions half of Malta lies below you as far as the sea. The cathedral square has stood in for more than one fictional capital on screen.