In pictures: Heydays of the Gut in Valletta

Valletta, it seems, could not boast of a specific red-light district during the times of the Order of St John. Some areas stood out as more aristocratic or respectable than others but vice and bawdiness did not identify with recognisable geographical ghettos.

The 1813 takeover of Malta by Britain turned the sedate island into the main Mediterranean base of the mightiest fleet in the world and rapidly put a stop to all that mind-numbing decorum. ‘Entertainment’ areas mushroomed in Strait Street, Valletta, Balzunetta in Floriana, the Senglea waterfront and, later, in Gżira. No dearth of havens for boozers and devout lechers.

A normal day in the Gut when the fleet was in.

Another view of the central part of the Gut.

The Gut when the fleet was out.

The heart of the Gut in the early post-war days.

Wine shops and liquor bars, eateries, billiards and darts haunts, hostels and lodging rooms crowded the northern strip of Strada Stretta and its immediate environs. Many barmaids doubled as pros. Gays and transvestites, male and female, felt anything but ousted.

Ladies of the house in the Gut.

The Black Prince bar and lodging house.

On the plus side, cabaret and music halls, some seedy, became nurseries for genuine musical talent – it flourished in those smoky hothouses. British servicemen named it the Gut – it’s not clear why.

On the plus side, cabaret and music halls, some seedy, became nurseries for genuine musical talent

Pre-war live show at the Victoria Music Hall in the Gut.

Manically chaotic, often disreputable, prominent in the epics of Strada Stretta remained the humongous drunken brawls, during which everyone fought everyone else without knowing or asking why. Stoic military policemen patrolled the streets, trying to maintain some semblance of order. The yobs, the boozy and the hooligans made sure to keep them busy.

Seamen enjoying their drink in the Gut the late 1940s.

Revelling in the Gut, early post-war.

Another view of a pre-war Strada Stretta cabaret.

Considering how high the Gut scored on the popularity scale – the must-go place for every serviceman – visual images of the street, its clients and activities prove rather limited. Almost no postcards at all, pre- or post-war – those generally recorded the more sanitised highlights of the capital.

Military pre-war satire postcard of the Gut.

I had to ransack my collections to be able to put together this feature.

Pre-war satire postcard of the Gut on Christmas night. Signed Rev – said to be Reverend.

These Monday pictorials started three years ago, on August 1, 2022.