The Pjazza Teatru Rjal occupies the bombed-out shell of Valletta's Royal Opera House, which stood at the city's main entrance before it was destroyed in the Second World War. Italian architect Renzo Piano's intervention preserved the ruins while inserting a functional outdoor performance space: steel and glass structures sit within the surviving stone walls, and the original columns form the frame for a modern auditorium open to the Maltese sky.
The venue hosts opera, theatre, and concerts throughout the year, particularly during the summer outdoor season. It sits immediately inside City Gate, making it one of the first things you see entering Valletta from the bus terminus. Even when no performance is scheduled it is worth pausing to look — the contrast between the weathered limestone ruins and Piano's precise contemporary insertions is striking.