Fort St Elmo
Filmed as Marseilles
📍 Triq il-Mediterran (Mediterranean Street), Valletta, at the tip of the Sciberras peninsula, Valletta, Malta
Scene breakdown · The Count of Monte Cristo
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Marseilles
2002The fort's harbour walls form part of the Marseilles backdrop in the port-city scenes.
Edmond Dantès
Also filmed here: Midnight Express
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Sağmalcılar prison (played by Fort St Elmo)
1978The courtyards, cell blocks and balconies of Lower St Elmo form the Istanbul prison where Billy serves his sentence alongside other foreign inmates.
Billy Hayes Jimmy Booth Max Hamidou -
Sağmalcılar prison gate (played by Fort St Elmo)
1978 Major spoilersBilly finally slips out of the prison and walks away, terrified of being stopped.
Billy HayesSpoilers for Midnight Express are hidden — tap to reveal, or change it under Spoilers in the menu.
Real-world history
A star fort begun by the Order of St John in 1552 and rebuilt after it held out for weeks in the Great Siege of 1565. It guards the entrances to the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour and now houses the National War Museum.
Logistics & accessibility
Admission: Heritage Malta site with a paid ticket covering the upper fort and the National War Museum; check current hours. The prison scenes were shot in Lower St Elmo, the run-down British-era stores and yards below the museum, which is not normally open to visitors and part of which is still used by the police academy. The outer walls can be seen from the surrounding streets for free.
Parking & accessibility: Valletta is best reached on foot or by bus to City Gate; limited paid parking near the fort.
Best time to visit: Morning, before the museum gets busy; combine with the harbour walk around the walls.
What else to see here
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Sacra Infermeria
The asylum and prison visiting-room scenes.
Historic hospital
5 min walk
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Is-Suq tal-Belt (Merchants Street market)
Where Billy tries to run from his escorts.
Market
10 min walk