Freezing wind will not keep me from my appointed excursion

The port of Valletta

I had no expectations for Valletta, Malta, so I was pleasantly surprised by the scenery and history of the place. The archipelago of Malta lies just over a mile south of Sicily, and 178 miles east of Tunisia, with a population of just over 52,000. It is the smallest capital of the European Union. You can drive the entirety of the island from one side to the other in 45 minutes.

Vineyards just starting to bloom

Though some stone age artifacts have been found, the area was first colonized by the Phoenicians around 800 BC. It’s less than 20 miles long – half the size of Washington, D.C. It is at the crossroads of Mediterranean, European, and African trade routes which makes it a wonderful melting pot of culture and food. And a lot of people wanted to control it. The list of societies that have occupied Malta is large: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Germans, French, Spaniards, and British.

The Maltese language is a Semitic language, like Palestinian, Syrian, Arabic, and Phoenician, with Italian and Spanish mixed in. They are different from other Semitic languages in that they use Latin letters.

Boats in the harbor

The Knights of St. John (later known as the Knights of Malta) had arguably the most impact on Maltese history. The Knights of St. John started in 1048 as a monastic community that ran a hospital for pilgrims in the Holy Land. In 1113, it became a lay religious order, with all knights bound by the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They ruled Malta for 250 years between the 16th to 18th centuries. The Maltese people are very proud of their success in the Great Siege of 1565, where over the course of five months, 700 Knights and 8,000 Maltese soldiers successfully repelled an assault by 40,000 Ottoman Turks. After the Siege, the Knights turned Valletta into a fortress city. The colossal architectural monuments the knights built have helped turn Valetta into a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Saint Paul the Apostle was being transported back to Rome to be tried as a political rebel when his ship was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Malta in 60 AD. All aboard swam to safety, and as described in the Acts of the Apostles (XXVIII) by St. Luke:

“And later we learned that the island was called Malta. And the people who lived there showed us great kindness, and they made a fire and called us all to warm ourselves…”

At the fireside, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake but suffered no harm. Paul took refuge in a cave for the winter which is now called St. Paul’s Grotto in Rabat, Malta.

Just some ducks chilling on some fishing nets. Nothing to see. Move along.

The first stop on my tour was Marsaxlokk Village, Malta’s main fishing village. Malta is a Catholic country, so it wasn’t hard to find a church to visit for Good Friday. There are 355 churches on the island, almost one for every day of the year, and there is a great competition about who is the biggest building and who has the best decorations. I went to the Madonna ta’ Pompei, then walked around the harborside, looking at the boats and through the street market. There wasn’t much traffic since it was a holiday, so I enjoyed the peace and quiet and sunshine.

Our Lady of Pompei

Walking the harborside

From Marsaxlokk, we drove to along the coast until we came to the Blue Grotto, a series of sea caves carved into the coastline. I took a small boat ride (the boat was small, not the ride) to see them. The Cat’s Cave, The Blue Grotto, The White Sand Grotto, and the Blue Window Cave were all stunning with the clear blue water.

Local fishermen ready to take us to the Grottos

Crystal clear water

So beautiful!

After a steep walk back up to the bus, we drove to Dingli Cliffs, Malta’s highest point, where we stopped to explore the Church of St. Mary Magdalen. There has been a church on this site since the 15th century. Inside were intricate dioramas of the significant places in Jesus’ life.

A diorama of Jerusalem

There were statues of Mary everywhere

Beautiful wildflowers. The yellow one above is Fennel; it's EVERYWHERE.

Our final stop was the Malta National Aquarium. Our guide was apologetic because it was a small aquarium, but I found that they had very informative and well-made exhibits with a good variety of species.