{"id":2214,"date":"2015-07-10T10:29:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T14:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2016-03-25T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T14:38:10","slug":"malta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2015\/07\/malta\/","title":{"rendered":"Malta. July 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u00a0chose Malta<\/a> as my wedding venue! Yes, I chose the entire island where early Christian catacombs and Byzantine walls, Muslim streets and Norman towers, megalithic temples and Knights’ forts defined the world history for thousands of years. When D. and I started to plan our wedding, we considered a few options, however, it didn’t take us long to settle on Malta as it had everything we wished for and even more (and of course, D’s great-grandma was Maltese-born).<\/p>\n

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Malta isn’t just another European island. Its history goes back to the 5000 B.C. blending together\u00a0the cultures of ancient Phoenicians<\/a>, Romans<\/a>, Byzantines<\/a>, Arabs,\u00a0Normans<\/a>\u00a0etc. It is home to one of the oldest European Christian military orders – Maltese Order of Hospitallers of St. John the Baptist <\/a>(dating back to 1023), three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and seven Megalithic Temples, which are considered to be the world’s oldest free-standing structures (way before the Egyptian Pyramids). Island’s rich history, beautiful sea, incredible archeological sites, authentic food and traditions as well as compact size (27 kms by 14 kms) made it a perfect vacation destination as well.<\/p>\n

Literature and information sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Lonely Planet Malta & Gozo<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. “My Maltese Guide” app (both –iTunes<\/a> and Google Apps<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  3. A Concise History of Malta by Carmel Cassar<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Malta: Pre-History and Temples by David H. Trump<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Malta: Phoenician, Punic and Roman by A. Bonanno<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Malta: The Medieval Millenium by Charles Dalli and Daniel Cilia<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Malta: The Order of St. John by Thomas Freller<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. The Great Siege: Malta 1565 by Ernle Bradford<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Fortress Malta: An Island under Siege 1940-1943 by James Holland<\/a><\/li>\n
  10. The Kappillan of Malta by Nicholas Monsarrat<\/a><\/li>\n
  11. 5000 years of architecture of Malta by Leonard Mahoney<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    History.<\/strong> Tiny islands of Malta (which include Malta, Gozo<\/a> and Comino<\/a>) are treasure troves of historical events and prehistoric sights. The earliest evidence of human occupation here goes back to 5200 B.C.\u00a0mainly by stone age<\/a> hunters or farmers who had arrived, allegedly, from the Italian island of Sicily<\/a>, possibly the Sicani<\/a>\u00a0(assumption is based on similar pottery designs found on both islands).\u00a0A culture of\u00a0megalithic<\/a> temple builders arose from this early period. Around 3500 to 2500 B.C., these people built some of the most sophisticated, oldest existing, free-standing structures in the world in the form of the megalithic \u0120gantija<\/a> temples on Gozo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u0126a\u0121ar Qim<\/a> and Mnajdra<\/a>\u00a0on Malta. It was a seemingly peaceful era, perhaps due to the islands’ then geographical isolation, as no evidence of defensive structures remain.\u00a0The temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and assumed to be used from 4000 to 2500 B.C.\u00a0Another interesting archaeological feature of the Maltese islands often attributed to these ancient builders, are equidistant uniform grooves dubbed “cart ruts” which can be found in several locations throughout the islands with the most prominent being those found in an area named “Clapham Junction<\/a>“. These may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone. It is a mystery why the population died out: some theories are drought and famine, an epidemic or an attack from overseas – or perhaps a combination of these afflictions. Whatever the reason, mysterious “temple builders” disappeared from the Maltese islands around 2500 B.C. The temples fell into disrepair, and the Bronze Age culture that followed was completely different, including its practices (ex. cremation rather than burial), and artwork.<\/p>\n

    \"Temples\"<\/a>Sea travel put Malta back on the map as it was impossible for ancient vessels to sail overnight or attempt long, continuous trips. Hence Malta was the ideal place to stop on a journey between mainland Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and Africa. From around 800 to 218 B.C. Malta was ruled by the Phoenicians and\u00a0by Carthage<\/a>, Phoenicia’s principal North African colony. Phoenicians inhabited the area now known as Mdina and Rabat which they called Maleth (“haven” or “port”).\u00a0The direct legacy of that period is visible in contemporary Malta – islands’ colorful fishing boats (called luzzu<\/em> or kajjik<\/em>), which little changed from the Phoenician trading vessels, are decorated with watchful eyes painted on the prow.<\/p>\n

    \"DSC_1839\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    During the Second Punic War<\/a> (218-201 B.C.) Rome took control of Malta before finally crashing Carthage in the Third Punic War<\/a> (149-146 B.C.). Since then, Malta became Foederata Civitas<\/a><\/i>, a designation that meant it was exempt from paying tribute\u00a0and fell within the jurisdiction of the province of Sicily. However, Malta retained a strong Punic influence by speaking Punic language and minting coins with Punic motives and inscriptions in Ancient Greek.\u00a0During the 1st\u00a0century B.C. the island was mentioned by Pliny the elder<\/a> and Diodorus Siculus<\/a>: the latter praised its harbours, the wealth of its inhabitants, its lavishly decorated houses and the quality of its textile products. In 2nd\u00a0century, Emperor Hadrian<\/a>\u00a0upgraded the status of Malta to\u00a0municipium<\/a><\/i> or free town: the island local affairs were administered by four magistrates\u00a0and a municipal senate, while a Roman procurator, living in Mdina, represented the proconsul<\/a> of Sicily.\u00a0In 58 AD, Paul the Apostle<\/a> was washed up on the islands together with Luke the Evangelist<\/a> after their ship was wrecked on the islands. Paul remained on the islands for three months, preaching the Christian faith, which has since thrived on Malta. The islands seem to have prospered under the Roman rule. The Phoenician Maleth became a main Roman town Melita (modern Mdina), where excavated remains of town houses (ex. Domus Romana), villas, farms and baths suggest that the inhabitants enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and occupied themselves with the production of olives, wheat, honey and grapes.<\/p>\n

    \"DSC_3636\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    In 395, after the last division of Roman Empire, Malta fell under the control of the Western Roman Empire<\/a>, however in 533 Belisarius<\/a>, on his way to conquer the Vandal Kingdom<\/a> in North Africa, reunited the islands under Imperial Byzantine\u00a0rule, where it\u00a0remained\u00a0until 870. The rapid expansion of Islam in the 7th to 9th centuries saw an Arab empire extend from Spain to India. The Muslim chronicler and geographer al-Himyari<\/a> recounts that in 870, following a violent struggle against the occupying Byzantines, the Muslim invaders, first led by Halaf al-Hadim, and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, looted and pillaged Maltese islands, destroying the most important buildings, and leaving them practically uninhabited until they were\u00a0re-colonized by the Muslims from Sicily in 1048\u20131049. The Arab rulers tolerated the Christian population who\u00a0were allowed freedom of religion; they had to pay jizya<\/a>, a tax for non-Muslims, but were exempt from the tax that Muslims paid (zakat<\/a>). The Muslims introduced new irrigation, some fruits and cotton and the Siculo-Arabic<\/a> language which\u00a0would eventually evolve into the Maltese language<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Apart from the names Malta and Gozo which are thought to have Latin roots, most Maltese place names date from Arab time.<\/p>\n

    In 1091 Normans captured Malta, as a part of their conquest of Sicily and for 400 years the histories of Maltese islands and Sicily were linked. Myth says that the Norman leader, Roger I of Sicily<\/a>, was welcomed by the native Christians\u00a0and reportedly tore off a portion of his checkered red-and-white banner and presented it to the Maltese \u2013 forming the basis of the modern flag of Malta<\/a> in gratitude for having fought on his behalf. Despite the succession of powerful rulers (Normans, Angevins, Aragonese and Castilians) Malta remained a European backwater where small population of downtrodden islanders paid their taxes by trading, slaving and piracy and were re-paid in kind by the marauding Turks and barbary corsairs. This was the reality when the Knights of St. John arrived in 1530, having been given the islands (much to the islanders’ dismay) by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; the Knights were to rule the islands until the arrival of the French in the 18th century.<\/p>\n

    In 1479 the marriage of Fernando II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile unified Spain thus Malta became part of the vast Spanish Empire. When their grandson, Charles V, came to power, one of the Europe’s greatest threats was the expanding Ottoman Empire of Suleiman the Magnificent<\/a>. Sultan had already driven the Knights of St. John from their island stronghold of Rhodes (1522-1523). When the “homeless” Knights begged European leaders to find them a new home, Charles V offered them Malta along with the governship of Tripoli (Libya), hoping that they might help to contain the Turkish naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean. The nominal rent for this perpetual lease was to be two Maltese Falcons a year – one to the emperor and one for the viceroy of Sicily. 25 years later, in 1565 Malta will become a place of\u00a0one of the mightiest battle between East and West, speaking of which Voltaire said, “Nothing is better known than the siege of Malta.”<\/p>\n

    Here, I will go into more details because the Great Siege of 1565<\/a> and presence of the Knights of St. John on Malta, shaped not only the destiny of the Maltese nation and islands’ topography, but also the future of European history (“The Great Siege: Malta 1565” by Earnle Bradford <\/a>is a page-turning account\u00a0on this topic).\u00a0Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L’Isle Adam<\/a> (1530-1534) of the Knights of St. John was not particularly impressed by the gift of the Maltese islands, which were barren, waterless and poorly defended. Equally unimpressed were the 12,000 or so locals, who were given no say in the matter; likewise the aristocracy, who remained aloof in their palazzi in Mdina. However, determined to make the best of a bad job and hoping one day to return to Rhodes, in 1530 the Knights settled not in the heart of the island but in the fishing village of Birgu (now Vittoriosa) on the south side of the Grand Harbour and set about fortifying their defences. While in Rhodes, the Knights had been a constant thorn in the side of the Ottoman Turks. In Malta their greatest adversary was the Turkish admiral Dragut Reis<\/a>, who invaded Gozo in 1551 and carried off almost the entire population of 5,000\u00a0into slavery.\u00a0Later, in 1559, the Knights lost half of their galleys in a disastrous attack on Dragut’s lair on the island of Djerba (Tunisia). With the power of the Knights at a low ebb, Suleiman the Magnificent saw an opportunity to polish off this troublesome Order, while at the same time capture Malta as a base for the invasion of Europe.<\/p>\n

    Jean Parisot de Valette<\/a>, Grand Master between 1557 and 1568, was a stern disciplinarian and an experienced soldier. He foresaw the threat of a Turkish siege and prepared for it as well as he could, renewing Fort St. Angelo and building Fort St. Michael and Fort St. Elmo. The Knights’ galley fleet was hidden in a creek below Birgu, and a great chain was stretched across the harbour entrance between Fort St. Angelo and Fort St. Michael to keep out enemy vessels. Food, water and arms were stockpiled, and de Valette sent urgent requests for aid to the emperor, the pope and the viceroy of Sicily. No help came (even though many Knights of St. John from all over\u00a0Europe came to his call, they got stranded in\u00a0Sicily when its viceroy failed to provide with\u00a0transportation). In May 1565, when an Ottoman fleet carrying more than 30,000 men (some accounts say it was almost 100,000 men) arrived to lay siege to the islands, de Valette was 70 years old and commanded a force of only 700 Knights and around 8,000 Maltese irregulars and mercenary troops. Turkish forces made three fatal mistakes:<\/p>\n

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    • they were jointly led by two very ambitions men\u00a0with two different strategies and agendas – Admiral Piali<\/a>, an experienced sailor and soldier and Mustafa Pasha, a son-in-law of Suleiman the Magnificent.<\/li>\n
    • instead of going straight to the Grand Harbour and attacking the main forts, they chose to drop anchor in the south of the island, by the Bay of Marsaxlokk, hence delaying the attack.<\/li>\n
    • they attacked Fort of St. Elmo first, it was the newest and the weakest of all Knights’ forts but it stood to the last soldier thus hindering Turkish plans on fast and speedy victory. It is important to remember that no ship could be at sea\u00a0in the fall, as it was a dangerous season of sirocco<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Before the Turkish soldiers set up camps on the plain of Marsa near the Bay of Marsaxlokk, the entire population of Malta took refuge within the walls of Birgu, Isla and Mdina, taking their livestock with them and poisoning the wells and cisterns they left behind. The Turks began their campaign with an attack on Fort St. Elmo, which guarded the entrance to both Grand and Marsamxett Harbours. The fort was small, holding a garrison of only 60 Knights and a few hundred solders – Pasha was confident that it would fall in less than a week. However, despite continuous bombardment and repeated mass assaults on its walls, Fort St. Elmo held out for over four weeks and cost the lives of 8,000 Turks before it was taken. When the fort finally fell,\u00a0Mustafa had the surviving knights decapitated and their bodies floated across the bay on mock crucifixes. In response, de Valette beheaded all his Turkish prisoners, loaded their heads into the cannons and fired them into the Turkish camp (according to the historical evidence, he regretted of doing it for the rest of his life).<\/p>\n

      Looking across at the looming bulk of Fort St. Angelo\u00a0from the smoke and rubble of St. Elmo, Pasha is said to have muttered, “Allah! If a small son has cost us so dear, what price shall we have to pay for so large a father?” Then he began the final assault on the strongholds of Birgu and Isla, but each time, Turks were beaten back. Morale of\u00a0the Ottoman army was drained by the long hot summer, their increasing casualties, and the impending possibility of having to spend the entire winter in Malta. The ferocity of their attacks decreased. On 7 September, the Knights’ long-promised relief force from Sicily finally arrived – 28 ships carrying some 8,000 men landed at Mellieha Bay and took command of the high ground around Naxxar as the Turks scrambled to embark their troops and guns at Marsamxett. However, seeing the unexpectedly small size of the relief force, Pasha ordered some of the troops to land at St. Paul’s Bay, while the rest marched towards Naxxar from Marsamxett. Instead, tired and demoralized Turkish soldiers ran for their galleys anchored in St. Paul’s Bay. Thousands were hacked to pieces in the shallow waters of the bay as they tried to escape. That night the banner of the Order of St. John few once again over the battered ruins of St. Elmo. Once you visit Fort St. Elmo in Valetta, remember the heroism of its defenders who for four weeks held Turks at bay and with their lives\u00a0changed the course of European history.<\/p>\n

      The part played in the Great Siege by the ordinary people of Malta is often overlooked, but their courage and resilience was a deciding factor in the Turkish defeat. Besides the 5,000 or so strong defence force made up of Maltese soldiers, the local women and children contributed by repairing walls, supplying food and ammunition and tending the wounded. The date of the end of the siege, 8 September, is still commemorated in Malta as the Victory Day public holiday.<\/p>\n

      The period following the Great Siege was one of building – not only massive new fortifications and watchtowers (the Wignacourt<\/a>, Lascaris<\/a> and De Redin towers<\/a>), but also churches, palaces and auberges. The military engineer Francesco Laparelli was sent to Malta by the pope to design the new defences of Valletta (a new city named after the hero de Valette and current capital of Malta), and Italian artists arrived to decorate its churches, chapels and palazzi. A pious Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere (1572-1581) oversaw the construction of the Order’s new hospital, the Sacra Infermeria, and the magnificent St. John’s Co-Cathedral. However, in later years, with the Turkish threat removed, the Knights occupied themselves less with militarism and monasticism, and more with piracy, commerce, drinking and duelling.<\/p>\n

      By the late 18th century around 3\/4th of the Order’s income came from the Knights of the French langue; when, after the French Revolution, authorities confiscated all of the Order’s properties and estates in France, the Order was left in dire financial straits. In 1798 Napoleon arrived in Malta aboard his flagship L’Orient at the head of the French Navy, on his way to Egypt. After Knights refused Napoleon to dock his ships in the Grand Harbour, the French landed and captured the island with hardly a fight. On 11 June 1798 the Order surrendered to the French. Napoleon stayed in Malta for only six days (in the Palazzo de Parisio<\/a> in Valetta), but when he left, L’Orient was weighed down with silver, gold, paintings and tapestries looted from the Order’s churches, auberges and infirmary. Most of this treasure went to the bottom of the sea a few months later when the Royal Navy under Admiral Nelson destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. The French also abolished the Maltese aristocracy, defaced coats of arms and closed down monasteries. Napoleon left behind a garrison of 4,000 men but very soon they were taken unaware by a spontaneous uprising of the Maltese and had to retreat within the walls of Valletta. With a help of British naval blockade, the French finally capitulated in September 1800 – and the British government, having taken Malta, was somewhat unsure what to do with it.<\/p>\n

      The Treaty of Amiens (March 1802) provided for the return of Malta to the Order of St. John, but the Maltese, fed up with lazy and troublemaking Knights, petitioned the British to stay. A new war between France and Britain forced the British government to change its mind regarding the potential usefulness of Malta and with the Treaty of Paris of 1814, the island was formally recognized as a Crown Colony of the British Empire and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Malta’s position halfway between the Strait of Gibraltar and Egypt proved to be its main asset, and it was considered an important stop on the way to India, a central trade route for the British.<\/p>\n

      During WWI Malta served as a military hospital, providing 25,000 beds for casualties from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign<\/a> in Turkey. But prices and taxes soared during the war and the economy slumped, causing riots and death of four Maltese citizens, shot by panicking British soldiers. In response, the British government gave the Maltese a greater say in the running of Malta, by creating a diarchic system of government, with a Maltese assembly presiding over local affairs and a British imperial government controlling foreign policy and defence. The Fascist\u00a0threat of WWII was remote until the fall of France in June 1940. Thus Malta was unprepared and undefended when on\u00a011 June, the day after Mussolini entered the war, Italian bombers attacked Grand Harbour. The only aircraft available on the islands at this time were three Gloster Gladiator biplanes – named Faith, Hope and Charity – whose pilots fought with such tenacity that Italian pilots estimated the strength of the Maltese squadron to be at least 25 aircrafts. It is mind boggling that those three planes battled on alone for three weeks before fleet of modern Hurricane fighters arrived to bolster the islands air defences. The remains of the sole surviving Gladiator – Faith, can be seen at Valletta’s National War Museum<\/a> located in Fort St. Elmo.<\/p>\n

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      Malta’s greatest ordeal came in 1942, when the country came close to starvation and surrender. It suffered 154 days and nights of non-stop bombing and in April alone some 6700 tonnes of bombs were dropped on Grand Harbour and the surrounding areas.\u00a0On 15 April, King George VI awarded the George Cross – Britain’s highest award for civilian bravery – to the entire population. Just as Malta’s importance to the Allies lay in disrupting enemy supply lines, so its major weakness was the difficulty of getting the supplies to the island. At the height of the siege in the summer of 1942 the governor made an inventory of remaining food and fuel, and informed London that Malta could only withstand until August. A huge relief convoy known as Operation Pedestal<\/a>, consisting of 14 supply ships escorted by 3 aircrafts carriers, 2 battleships, 7 cruisers and 24 destroyers, was dispatched to run the gauntlet of enemy bombers and submarines. It suffered massive attacks, and only 5 ships made it into Grand Harbour – the crippled oil tanker Ohio, with its precious cargo of fuel, limped in on 15 August, lashed between two warships as it no longer could float on its own.<\/p>\n

      In July 1943 Malta served as the operational headquarters and air support base for Operation Husky<\/a>, the Allied invasion of Sicily, and the Italian Navy finally surrendered, to the Allies on 8 September. Fortress Malta<\/a>\u00a0is a fantastic account of the lives and deaths of the Maltese people during the WWII. As a\u00a0Belarusian, whose country suffered enormous losses and buried\u00a0every 4th of its citizens in WWII, I was surprised and inspired to learn about the importance of this small island for the Allies and the immense heroism shown by the Maltese people.<\/p>\n

      WWII left the islands with 35,000 homes destroyed and the population on the brink of starvation, the economic slump called for\u00a0either closer integration with Britain or for island’s independence. Maltese chose the second and in 1964 became an independent republic. In 1980 they adopted a policy of neutrality and in 1989\u00a0Malta hosted\u00a0a summit between US President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev<\/a>, their first face-to-face encounter, which signaled the end of the Cold War.<\/p>\n

      Equipped with all this historical information, get ready to explore the Maltese islands. They are indeed small but don’t let the size fool you, as\u00a0it is impossible to see them all in just a few days! Oh wait, perhaps it is possible if you get in touch with Stephen Place at\u00a0My Maltese Guide<\/a>. While panning the destination wedding and hoping to provide our guests with the most comprehensive Maltese experience, I reached out to Stephen and he has been an invaluable source of information and help. I might even admit that he has done more for me than my own wedding planner, who got generously paid for her services! Stephen came up (and fully organized) with two unique itineraries for Malta and Gozo and managed to accommodate the requests of all 35+ people who joined those tours. To complicate the situation, everything had to be done in two languages – English and Russian – but even this didn’t stop Stephen, he personally led the English group and found a fantastic tour-guide Anna to take over the Russian-speaking guests. I bow my head to you, Stephen, and after all you’ve done for me and D, I am happy to call you my new friend!<\/p>\n

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      Another good and economical way to see the islands is to take one of\u00a0Malta Sightseeing buses<\/a>. They\u00a0run two routes in Malta (North in blue and South in red) and one in Gozo and cover many of Malta’s sights. They start in Sliema, cost \u20ac20 each and take\u00a0about 3 hours to complete, but you can hop on and off anytime you want. I did it on my last day of the trip, as even after 3 weeks in Malta, I still felt that I haven’t covered\/seen it all. I found the routes to be very well planned and the audio guide very helpful in learning about the island.<\/p>\n

      \"Malta\"<\/a><\/p>\n

      The islands have a very well connected network of public buses that take you to pretty much any place in the country, but if you need a taxi, use only www.ecabs.com.mt<\/a>. To our sad amusement we realized that many taxi drivers (who must be called in) didn’t speak English and didn’t even know the island well, add a not-so-friendly attitude and you’ve get a pretty unattractive experience.\u00a0So, follow my advice and book an ecab (with a notice)!<\/p>\n

      I won’t be talking about my trip to Malta in chronological order, as I usually prefer to do, but in geographical one, simply because many of our 15 days in Malta we spent organizing\u00a0the wedding: visiting the venues, arranging pre-wedding drinks, activities, etc. So I have separated our experience by locations and events and would like to start with one of the most touristic\u00a0parts of the island – Paceville<\/a><\/strong> (reads “Pacheville), St. Julians<\/a><\/strong> and Sliema<\/a><\/strong>. Those three towns, flanking the eastern coast of Malta, despite their lack of interesting things to see or any major beach to speak of (except for a small St. George’s bay beach) – are the bustling area to stay, promenade, eat, drink, shop and party on the island. St. Julians is home to two best hotels in Malta – Hilton and\u00a0The Westin Dragonara Resort<\/a>, where we chose to spend part of our time on the island.<\/p>\n