Strait Street runs parallel to Republic Street but on the downhill side, and for most of the 19th and 20th centuries it occupied a very different place in Valletta's social geography. As the city's red-light district and primary entertainment strip for the Royal Navy, it was known as "The Gut" — a place of bars, dance halls, and general rowdiness that the respectable parts of the city preferred not to acknowledge.
Since Malta's independence and the withdrawal of the British fleet, Strait Street fell quiet and was largely abandoned for decades. A revival began in the 2010s and accelerated around the 2018 European Capital of Culture year, when the street was repaved and a new generation of bars, restaurants, and music venues moved in. Today it is the most atmospheric part of Valletta after dark — the Baroque buildings are well-preserved, the bars are low-key, and the history sits pleasantly close to the surface.