Malta
If Italy is the boot and Sicily is the thing being kicked, then Malta is the divot.
|
|
|
| Valletta | Valletta,
capital of Malta, is a completely walled city of only 7,000 people
within a 600 x 1000m area. This photo shows probably 30% of it. It was
started in 1566 with a legion of 8,000 slaves who carved a regular grid
of streets in the rock. As a planned city, the first in Europe, it had
buildings tall enough to shade the streets from the hot sun. 
|
|
|
| |
But the streets are steep, some of them being
just stairs.
|
|
|
| Walls |
Valletta is not the only walled city in Malta. We also went to Mdina
and to Victoria on the adjacent island of Gozo. They are also
surrounded by huge ramparts. Block Brothers Builders Inc has done a lot
of business in Malta.
These walls surround Mdina, and whenever you have walls you need a
gate. And whenever you have a gate, it helps to have a couple of lions. |
|
|
|  x
|
|
|
| |
Victoria's walls are certainly impressive, but we wonder about their
military intelligence, since the cannon is pointed at their own clock! |
|
|
|
|
|
| Alleys |
The cities have their similarities, but the differences span centuries.
Mdina dates from the 14th-15th century, Valletta from the 16th-17th
century, and Victoria from the 18th century. Charm seems to have
spanned the ages. |
|
|
|  x x
|
|
|
| Local Boy Makes Good |
Victoria may be the "newest," but it has ancient roots. As we walked through its gate, we spotted this stone.
| Notice, by public subscription of the people of Gozo, in honor of |
| Marcus Vallius Rufus of the Quirine tribe, son of Caius, for his merit on being |
| raised to the rank of knight by the Divine Antoninus Pius Augustus |
| (Roman Emperor 138-161)
and thereby also honoring his father |
| Caius Vallius postumus, patron of the municipium |
|
|
|
| Cathedrals |
And, in each of the three cities the focus is a huge, beautiful cathedral.
|
|
|
Valletta's St. Johns
|
|
|
| | This beautiful ceiling is in St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina
|
|
|
| | Victoria's Cathedral of the Assumption was draped in red for an upcoming festival. Note
the "dome" at the top of the photo. It is painted on a flat ceiling to appear to be a dome.
|
|
|
| Maltese Creativity |
The earliest Maltese, arriving about 5200 years ago, were also attuned to beauty. The animals ...
the sleeping lady ...
and later the Romans with their mosaics.
|
|
|
| Food And Drinks |
The Maltese have come up with a great beer (Cisk), and a tasty new take
on "colas" (Kinnie). The terrific sandwich is called ftira in keeping
with Malta's penchant for combining consonants in odd pairs. The word
refers to the bread which is traditionally stuffed with tomatoes,
olives, capers and anchovies. We became addicted to them. This upscale
version includes tuna and goat cheese. |
|
|
|
 x
|
|
|
| |
And,
for those of you waiting to find out about the Maltese falcon -- a
subspecies of Peregrine falcon -- it's a native bird. When Malta was
given to the Knights of St. John in 1530, the annual rent was two
Maltese falcons, one to the Spanish Emperor, and one to the Viceroy of
Sicily. It is now feared to be extinct. |
|
|
