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Destination
Information
Valletta - This is the city that the Knights
of St John of Jerusalem built after the
great siege of 1565. It has something for
every interest: The best time to
see it is in the late afternoon, when it's at its liveliest and most beautiful,
the setting sun turning the stones to gold. Nothing beats Upper Barrakka Gardens,
a small 18th-century park perched on the edge, literally, of town. If you look
straight down, you'll see Lascaris Wharf and the old Customs House. Among the
attractions of the gardens are the greenery, statues and calm Archaeology Museum.
The museum occupies the 16th-century Auberge
de Provence, the most influential
of the French inns of knightly Valletta.The
16th century St. John's Co-Cathedral
is literally built on the bones of the Knights of Malta. Hundreds of them are
buried in the floor under complex mosaics of coloured marble;, the exterior
of the Co-Cathedral may be drab, but the
baroque interior is a revelation of dazzling
art and decoration. Upstairs in the museum are tapestries of great value, and
vestments donated to the church by wealthy knights.
By Malta's standards the
Grand Master's Palace is an enormous building, filling an entire city block.
Only a small part of it is open to the public; the rest belongs to the parliament.
But you can penetrate two peaceful courtyards and admire the statue of Neptune,
the fountain, and the 18th-century clock which has figurines of Moorish slaves
striking the hours. The State Dining Room is decorated by paintings of British
monarchs from George III to Elizabeth II. The main part of the palace that's
open to view is the transplanted Armoury of the Knights. Nineteen dummies
in armour show off full regalia with swords
and pikes. Also to be seen: Turkish
shields and swords, trophies from the great siege; muskets, cannon and mortars.
Overlooking Palace Square, a 17th-century hostel now houses an audio-visual
show
documenting the Malta's role and involvement in the first and second World
Wars. Newsreel film and special effects
tell the story of the bombing, the deprivation,
the resistance and the ultimate triumph.
Casa Rocca Piccola - Down Republic
Street beyond Palace Square, a family of
the Maltese nobility has opened its palazzo
to public view. Built at the end of the 16th century, the house has its
own chapel
and a dining room seating 16 at table. You can visit the four-poster bedroom
(with religious paintings and statues), the drawing room and the sitting
room.As
Valletta first took shape, the Knights Hospitallers of St John, who had
begun tending the sick in the 11th century,
built a vast hospital near the end
of the peninsula. The main ward was 155
m (509 ft) long and, harmoniously, as wide
as
it was high-11 m (36 ft). At the time it was the longest hall in Europe.
The
knights took in anyone of any faith who was ill and treated the sick as
seigneurs
malades (sick lords), with respect and humility. The standard of medical
treatment was high, and the patients were
given good food served on silver plates.
Now
the Holy Infirmary has been transformed into the Mediterranean Conference
Centre-a lavish setting for conferences
or concerts. The banquet hall, under a cross-vaulted
ceiling, is most sumptuous.
The Suburbs of Sliema and St. Julian's -
The suburb of Sliema has grown bigger and
vastly
more animated than the capital, Valletta.
This is where Maltese and tourists alike go for shopping, eating and
drinking,
promenading and sunbathing. If the beaches, mostly rocky, do not count
among
the island's best, the location compensates. High-rise hotels and apartment
blocks go on to infinity. From Sliema
the
view of Valletta-the bastions illuminated
by night-is a winner. For a much closer look, take one of the harbour
sightseeing tours that depart frequently from Sliema Creek. Beyond Sliema,
the former
fishing village of St Julian's is as
animated at night as Valletta is moribund. The
resort
has restaurants of many nationalities, no end of pubs, bars and discos,
not to mention the island's biggest casino
at Dragonara Point. Big international
hotels line the rocky shores of St George's
Bay.
Inland - Mdina, Rabat, Buskett, Mosta After
the vitality-and traffic jams-of the seaside
resorts, another world is revealed
when you turn inland. Historic towns and villages, well supplied with
churches and legends, are scattered across the mostly harsh, rocky
landscape. Dry
stone walls, skilfully built, go on for miles, dividing parcels of
parched earth. Most
of the time, except for ploughing or harvesting seasons, the farms
seem deserted and the country folk stay inside.
Mdina - Malta's
most uplifting
sight may well be
the view of the ancient walled city of Mdina from the plain below.
Hunched on a high ridge, Mdina's bulwarks
and domes rule the horizon. Its history
is said
to go back 4,000 years. Its supremacy dates back to Roman times when
the city, called Melita, was the island's capital.
Restrained, warm and beautifully balanced,
the façade of St Paul's Cathedral introduces Malta's most majestic church.
(Actually, it is a co-cathedral, sharing the honours with St John's in Valletta.)
Wandering the streets of Mdina you'll pass patrician houses of the 16th and 17th
centuries; what may be the oldest of all, the Santa Sophia Palace, claims to
have a ground floor built in the 13th century. Wander at will-the narrow, twisting
streets were designed to be shady and to confound invaders-and notice the architectural
details representing centuries of style. But don't miss Bastion Square for the
view from the city walls. From this vantage point you can see all the way to
Valletta and St Paul's Bay; the unobstructed panorama of all the classic invasion
routes must have been a sentry's best friend.
Rabat - Its Arabic name still stands,
but Rabat was important long before Moorish days. It prospered under
the ancient Romans and the early Christians.
With no fortifications remaining to hem it
in,
the town is far bigger in area and population than Mdina, of which
it is a suburb. Just outside the gardens
abutting the Mdina moat, a Roman villa was
unearthed
towards the end of the 19th century. Built in the 2nd century bc,
the house presumably belonged to a Roman
official or merchant; In the atrium are some
very interesting
mosaics with well-achieved three-dimensional effects, in addition
to delicate pictures in tile. In the museum
connected to the house you can see Roman
glassware
and amphoras, an olive press, and Arabic funerary inscriptions-as
well as an ancient Jewish tombstone.
St.
Paul's Catacombs - Malta's early Christians
buried
their dead in catacombs they carved out of the bedrock. Reclining
like Romans, they held funeral feasts around
Agape tables (from the Greek word for "love").
The underground cemeteries are honeycombed beneath Rabat on many
levels-as deep as 7 m (23 ft) below the
ground. They are full of interesting details
(although
many have been plundered), but the long, twisting, low-ceilinged
tunnels and
all-but-total darkness are not for the claustrophobic. Bring a
torch to light your way. St. Agatha's CatacombsThe
bigger Catacombs of St Agatha are reached
through an underground church. The Crypt of St Agatha started as
a cave where
the future saint-fleeing from her tormentors in Sicily-prayed and
slept. It was later greatly expanded into
an underground basilica decorated with
frescoes
of
the 12th century. BuskettThe name sounds awfully English, but it's
derived from the Italian boschetto, meaning "little
woods". This is Malta's
only forest, of pines and cedars, and the greenest part of the
island, planted with
citrus orchards.
At the end of June an enormous festa takes
place in Buskett Gardens for the feast of
St Peter and St Paul. Folk music, dancing,
abundant
food and bonfires go on all night.MostaFrom miles away you can see
the dome of the parish church of Mosta. Towering
improbably over a town of less than 15,000
people, the stupendous Mosta Dome is supposed to be the fourth-largest
unsupported
dome in Europe - not far behind the likes of St Peter's in Rome. During
World War II, with a congregation of several
hundred in attendance, a 500-lb German
bomb plunged through the dome. It bounced on the floor but failed to
explode, to general relief. A replica of
the miraculous dud is now on display on the
spot.
Prehistoric Sites - Malta's prehistoric
sites boggle the minds of archaeologists.
The most
detached layman must be awed at the sheer
age of the neolithic
temples, their advanced architecture, their
mysteries. There are 33 Stone Age temples
on 18 different sites.
Gozo - The island of Gozo is greener and
more relaxed than
her big sister Malta, and is altogether enchanting. Less than a
third the size of Malta, and with a much
lower
population density, Gozo has a horizon
of flat-topped
hills punctuated by church bell towers and domes, a flowered landscape
where stark, porous ravines widen into
lush valleys that produce
all the ingredients for an island salad-tomatoes,
lettuce, olives, onions and capers.
Hundreds
of dry-stone walls sternly separate the
fields. Stones were used to build the battlements
of the island's citadel (begun in Roman times), the forts, and the
Gogantija
temples, archaeological wonders of world renown. There are also some
appealing beaches. Lacking an airport,
Gozo
is accessible only by sea or by helicopter
from Malta, slowing the jet-set pace and generally deterring the
tourist crush.
Those who've discovered the secret of the isle wouldn't have it any
other way. Comino You'll see Comino from
the ferry boat between Malta and Gozo.
It may look
like a harsh, deserted island-but there's more to it than meets the
eye. Especially the well-protected waters,
so crystalline that snorkellers and scuba
divers are
mesmerized. Ashore, in spring, there is the heady fragrance of wild
flowers and herbs.The name "Comino" is derived from "cumin", the plant
that has always flowered on the isle. There's also thyme, which keeps Comino's
bees busy. Comino found its destiny in escapism. A discreet luxury hotel complex
exploits the sporting possibilities and the little island's traffic-free charm.
Day-trippers invade the snorkelling paradise of the Blue Lagoon, partly shielded
by the minuscule uninhabited islet of Cominotto, and visiting yachtsmen can't
resist the lesser-known beaches. But it all calms down towards dusk, when the
all-embracing get-away atmosphere is restored. |
