Magnificent Malta

Just off the southern coast of Sicily lies the ancient island of Malta.  Malta was originally part of Siciily, but at the end of the ice age, the seas rose and cut off Malta from Sicily and created this island.   The island of Malta is famous for many things  -- having played an important defensive role for the allies in WWII, the Famous Maltese Falcon, and the Knights of St John.  The original knights were a hospital group providing aid to the crusaders. This morphed into becoming an escort service for the crusaders and then they became militarized. After the crusades were lost, the knights were made to leave Jerusalem and went to Rhodes. They were then forced out of Rhodes when Sulliman the Great of the Ottoman Empire told them they could leave Rhodes and he would not behead  them as long as they agreed not to attack his ships.  The Knights became  homeless for 8 years after they were made to leave the island of Rhodes.  At the end of that time ( after dispersing all over Europe), they settled in Malta by the grace of Charles the V who agreed to let the Knights stay in Malta if they paid "rent" of one Maltese Falcon per year.  However, the Knights had made the deal with Sulliman to not attack his ships.  They reneged on that deal and after a few years , they began  to attack the Ottoman Empire's ships again. This made  Sulliman so angry he sent a force of 38,000 men to kill the Knights in Malta.  The Knights were able to hold off the siege and Sulliman's army had to turn back as winter approached.  But the siege had devastated part of the island.  The Knights asked the Pope to "fill their coffers with money" and the Pope obliged knowing that if the Ottamans (Islamists ) came back to attack again, they would continue their march to Rome.   Had this happened it would have dealt a huge blow to Christianity and enhanced the spread of Islam throughout Europe...

There were 27 Grand Masters of Malta.  As each of them succeeded , they became more and more "impressed" with themselves and felt they were becoming closer to God.  This is displayed particularly well in the Grand Cathedral on Malta constructed by the Knights.  It is an example of "Baroque gone wild!"  The walls in the church are covered with 24k gold.  The 404 Knights that are buried in the church lie beneath magnificent marble inlaid slabs with decorative scenes that are so meticulously done, you would think they were painted, not inlaid marble.  You can see no seams.  

The master painter Caravaggio has two marvelous paintings on display in the church..  Caravaggio was a new style of painter for his time -- a realist who painted the grim realities rather then cherubs floating in a blue sky..  While Carravagio was in Rome to paint for the Pope, he killed a nobleman and had to flee Italy.  He contacted a friend in Malta who was a Knight and asked if he could join.  He was told no, because it required 200 Years of ancestry to be allowed to become a knight.   Not to be deterred, Caravaggio painted a beautiful piece (on display today in the church) and gave it to,the Knight as a "gift"!  The Knight then went forward on Carvaggios behalf and got the head of the order to agree to look the other way on the aristocracy requirement if he would do a painting for him of the beheading of John The Baptist.  It was not the painting the Grand Master was expecting, because it was not done in the style of the  times, but rather in the very dark/light realism that shows John's severed head on the floor and the executioner going for his knife to finish severing the head from the body.  This is the large painting displayed today in the cathedral.  But, as I mentioned, the Knights began to believe they were better then mere mortals and that they were closer to God.  The Church reflects this in the grand baroque style and their self important sculpted mausoleums.  There is no image anywhere of the Holy family-- no Mary or Jesus or Joseph..

When Napolean invaded Malta, he stripped the church (though you would never know) of 1100 kilos of gold and silver.  There are amazing silver candelabras that Napolean took.  He was asked to return them since he had taken so much.. They weighed the silver candelabras and he agreed to return them if they paid him twice their weight in silver from other churches.  They took the deal and paid him with other  silver and he returned the candelabras which are on display today.

The island today depends mainly on tourism. The soil is unbelievably rocky and takes a very long time to break down because there is not much rain.  Agriculture is very limited because space is precious and good soil rare.  We were told that when an American military ship docks in Malta, everyone in the crew gives up one day of shore leave to make a charitable contribution for the day whether it's helping an orphanage or helping rebuild a water line, they do a day of community service.  Americans are well thought of on the island.

We also visited an ancient Temple unearthed in the 1920's called the Haar Qim Prehistoric Temple.  This temple was built 2000 years before the pyramids were built. There are theories, but no one is sure what the purpose of these temples were, fertility? Of land and/or people? Sacrifices? Perhaps..We do not know what caused the people to leave suddenly and disappear.  It appears that one day they dropped their tools and fled and the Temples were deserted and time slowly began to cover them up with soil and sand until they were discovered in the 1920's.  They are an amazing example of construction -- a round structure with stones that  fit beautifully together.  One of the stones is enormous-- a 20 ton rock-- put carefully in place. There are figures of very fat people-- asexual statues... Were these the Gods they worshipped?  No one knows for sure....

We had a WONDERFUL guide who is a "Malta original"!  His name is Nick Ripard and he owns Foundinmalta Guided Tours.  He can inundate you with names and years if that is what you want, or he can just tell you the basic history in a delightful, easy to remember fashion.  I highly recommend Nick if you want to come away with a good basic understanding of the Island's history.  We all voted him one of the best guides we've ever had!

Once we returned to our ship, we filled the outdoor Jacuzzi and Trey spent a while relaxing and watching TV as he "soaked"!

Trey enjoying our outdoor Jacuzzi!

Arriving in Malta!

A relic in the Temple of Haar Qim.  Note the honeycomb of holes literally drilled into the limestone..

The Temple...

The interior of the Knights Cathedral -- note the 24k gold leaf everywhere. 

Note beautiful marble inlay work on the Knights burial slab..this is one of the 404 Knights buried inside the church.

A Maltese street performer...

Farewell Malta!