Melite (ancient city)

Melite

Ruins of the Domus Romana, one of the few visible remains of Melite
Shown within Malta
Location	Malta
Region	Northern Region
Coordinates	35°53′N 14°24′E / 35.883°N 14.400°E / 35.883; 14.400
Area	c. 0.32 km2 (0.12 sq mi)
History
Builder	Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines
Material	mainly limestone and marble
Founded	c. 8th or 7th century BC
Abandoned	870 AD
Site notes
Condition	Largely destroyed, a few remains survive

Melite (Ancient Greek: Μελίτη, Melítē) or Melita (Latin) was an ancient city located on the site of present-day Mdina and Rabat, Malta. It started out as a Bronze Age settlement, which developed into a city called Ann (Phoenician: ‎𐤀𐤍𐤍‎, ʾnn) under the Phoenicians and became the administrative centre of the island.^[1] The city fell to the Roman Republic in 218 BC, and it remained part of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire until 870 AD, when it was captured and destroyed by the Aghlabids. The city was then rebuilt and renamed Medina, giving rise to the present name Mdina. It remained Malta's capital city until 1530.

Only a few vestiges of the Punico-Roman city have survived. The most substantial are the ruins of the Domus Romana, in which a number of well-preserved mosaics and statues have been found. Sparse remains of other buildings and parts of the city walls have been excavated, but no visible remains of the city's numerous temples, churches and other public buildings survive.