Malta: An Introduction

Where??

I find it interesting how many people are only very slightly familiar with Malta, or have never heard of it. Whenever someone would ask me where we’re going this trip, I’d reply “Malta” – this would result in one of three responses:

• a) a blank, uncomprehending stare
• b) “where is that?”
• c) “oh yes, I’ve heard of it… why would you want to go there?”

Given I had only one week of vacation left this year, we wanted to visit somewhere compact and easily covered in under a week’s time. The small islands of Malta fit that criteria. After watching scads of YouTube travel videos on Malta, Vince and I decided on it for this fall’s travel destination.

So, What and Where is Malta?

You may well ask. Malta is Europe’s southern-most country. It is an archipelago in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily. To the south of Malta sits Libya and Tunisia:

The country of Malta is exceptionally small, consisting of three islands: the largest and most populated island is called Malta – this is where the capital city of Valletta is located. The island of Malta is 27 km long and 14.5 km wide, with a total area of 246 square km – not a big place by Canadian standards. The second island is very small, and is called Comino. No one lives on Comino and it is rather barren except for the beautiful Blue Lagoon located there. The third island is the mid-sized of the three, called Gozo. Gozo is quieter and less populated than the big island of Malta.

A Very Brief History of Malta

Malta is an ancient land with a long history. Humans have inhabited Malta since about 5200 BC, when Stone Age hunters or farmers arrived from Sicily. Its strategic location made it a key territory for Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, and Normans, each leaving their mark. From 1530 to 1798, it was ruled by the Knights of St. John, who fortified the islands and withstood the Great Siege of 1565.

The island of Malta specifically played a vital strategic role in World War II as a base for the Allied Powers. It was heavily bombarded by German and Italian aircraft, and by the end of the war Malta was devastated. In 1942 the island of Malta was presented with the George Cross, a British award for great gallantry, in recognition of the wartime bravery of the Maltese people. After the war, the movement for self-governance became stronger.

The country of Malta became independent from Britain and joined the Commonwealth in 1964, was declared a republic on December 13, 1974, and admitted to the EU in 2004. Traces of Malta’s British rule remain to this day: we encountered the red British telephone boxes, the round British mailboxes, and British spelling in their printed English. Vehicular traffic direction is also inherited from the UK – the Maltese drive on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel being on the right side of the car.

Notes on the Blog

Like some of my other blogs, this one is written in retrospect of the trip; there is never enough time at the end of a touring day to record and post the day’s events, so I’ve done this after returning home. Rather than an hour-by-hour chronological blog, I will focus on some highlights of the five full days we had in Malta, omitting the travel days spent going to and from the island.

Through the magic and wonder of Adobe Lightroom, I’ve eliminated some of the distracting clutter, people and objects originally captured in many of the shots.

OK, let’s go!…