Malta & Gozo
The Eight Point Cross in The Heart of The Mediterranean - June 2024
Malta & Gozo are the epitome of the elysian island destination, boasting stunning architecture alongside a rich vibrant cultural scene, these islands with their Mediterranean climate offer a mezze of holiday opportunities for every taste from culture vultures to beach lovers alike. Antiquity has bequeathed Malta and Gozo a repository of megalithic temples that are older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids. Situated plum in the heart of the Mediterranean, the islands have been a magnet for innumerable conquering powers down the millennia; the Phoenicians and the Romans, the Ottomans and the Normans, the Knights of St John and the British have all coveted the islands, their influence leaving an axiomatic mark still visible through until the present day.
A Brief History
Malta has been inhabited since 5900 BC, the first prehistoric occupants originated from various European and African regions of the Mediterranean, they practiced mixed subsistence farming after clearing the existing forest cover that dominated the island. Around 3850 BC Malta was occupied by a Neolithic civilization that flourished for about 1,500 years, at its zenith it constructed monumental megalithic temples, which today are among the oldest surviving buildings in the world.
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Malta was colonised by the maritime trading Phoenicians in around 700 BC - using it as an outpost from which they expanded their influence in the Mediterranean - they held sway until the Romans arrived in 218 BC. Roman dominion perdured with Malta ultimately coming under the domain of the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire in the 6th century AD.
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The early 11th century heralded the arrival of the Arab armies, their ephemeral stay on Malta was curtailed with annexation by the Normans in 1091, Malta thus became part of the Kingdom of Sicily which was also ruled by the Normans. The year 1530 ushered in the arrival of the Knights of St John who governed the region as a vassal state of Sicily. The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent laid siege to Malta in 1565, after four months of attritional warfare the truculent Ottomans were repelled, signalling a turning point in European history and initiating a fatal blow to Muslem Ottoman aspirations in the central Mediterranean. Christian Europe heaved a huge collective sigh of relief at the erosion of the perception of Ottoman invincibility. The Knights extended their demesne over Malta for more than two centuries, constructing palaces, churches and fortifications, until they were expelled when the expansionist French under Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the island in 1798.
An idyllic coastal walk on Gozo finishes at Xlendi with this wonderful photographic opportunity
French rule proved Pyrrhic being superseded with the arrival of the British in 1800, Malta becoming a de facto British colony in 1813. The island became an important naval base for the British, especially during the Second World War, serving as the headquarters of their Mediterranean Fleet. Malta was one of the heaviest bombed locations during the Second World War that ravaged Europe from 1939 until 1945.
In 1964 Malta became an independent Commonwealth realm, ultimately joining the European Union in 2004, and subsequently the Euro monetary system in 2008.
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The history of Gozo is symbiotic with that of Malta, since Gozo has been governed by Malta throughout its history. The Maltese archipelago consists of 5 islands of which Gozo is the second largest after Malta.
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Gozo has been inhabited since 5000 BC, when farmers from nearby Sicily crossed the sea to the island. As with Malta, many temples were built on Gozo during the Neolithic period. The island was occupied by the Phoenicians around 700 BC and by the Carthaginians from approximately 400 BC, subsequently it was annexed by Rome in 218 BC.
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​Along with Malta, Gozo was absorbed into the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire in the 6th century AD, was occupied by the Arab forces in the 11th century, and was ruled by the Knights of St John from 1530. In the late 16th century, the majority of Gozo’s population - 5,000 to 7,000 people – were enslaved when the island surrendered following numerous incursions by the bellicose Ottomans.
Gozo became a British crown colony in 1813, and as part of the entire Maltese archipelago gained its independence from Britain in 1964. Gozo alongside Malta joined the European Union in 2004, adopting the Euro currency in 2008.
The Journey
This exciting trip starts with an early flight from Heathrow airport to Malta, then a 20 -minute ferry crossing to Gozo where the tour begins in earnest. Gozo is a compact island - with a population of approximately 32,000 - measuring only 15 kilometres in length and 7 kilometres wide, all of the sites visited are no more than a short drive from our hotel base. Agriculture contributes a significant amount to Gozo’s economy, with 25% of the islands population being engaged in the farming industry.
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Victoria, also known as Rabat, is Gozo’s miniature capital, its cobbled streets are lined with lovely old stone-built houses, many displaying religious images in niches on their external walls. Victoria’s Citadel is a walled metropolis, sitting high on a rocky bluff, it dominates the skyline standing guard over the city below. The Citadel complex, which dates to the 17th century in its current incarnation, accommodates five museums and a former prison complex, a walk along its ramparts affords fantastic views of almost the whole of Gozo.
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The monumental Neolithic temples of Ggantija at Xaghra, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, have stood for more than five and a half millennia - over a thousand years longer than the Great Pyramids of Egypt - making them among the oldest stone buildings in the world. The temples are constructed in a clover-leaf shape with impressive limestone walls reaching up to 7m in height, the site is believed to have been a ceremonial complex associated with a fertility cult.
An amazingly colourfully mosaic on a wall in Victoria the capital of Gozo
The Ta’Pinu Basilica is Gozo’s most important pilgrimage site, the hugely impressive church, built in 1931, is beautifully decorated with intricately carved stonework and colourful mosaic frescoes. Thousands of Maltese make a pilgrimage here annually, praying to Our Lady of Ta’Pinu who is credited with miraculous healing powers, hoping she will cure their ailments. Innumerable ex-voto offerings - from plaster casts to crutches - are displayed inside the basilica from devotees who have been miraculously healed at this ecclesiastical locus.
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Driving across Gozo the landscape is generally dry and barren, although terraced hillsides facilitate agricultural enterprise, contributing a significant amount to the island’s economy, with Gozo’s nascent tourism industry still being very much in its infancy.
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A walk along the shoreline at Xwejni Bay is like a journey back in time. Spectacular coastal scenery and salt pans dominate the vista, in the winter the pans fill with sea water, which evaporates in the summer heat to leave behind chunky white crystals of salt. Many of these salt pans date back over 2,000 years to the time of the Romans, indicating the importance of salt down the millennia.
After four enjoyable and fascinating days on Gozo it is time to catch the ferry back over to Malta, the largest and most densely populated - with a citizenry of 575,000 - island in the Maltese archipelago. Our hotel here on Malta for the totality of the trip is in Sliema, a suburb of the capital Valletta, here are situated many large beautiful houses around the harbour area, many foreign embassies are also located in this district.
Malta’s premier economic activity is the maritime industry, many ships undergo repairs here, also innumerable vessels are registered under the Maltese flag of convenience. Tourism is additionally a major contributor to the Maltese economy, with its all year - round conducive weather and being no more than a few hours flying time from most destinations in Europe. Innumerable businesses are offered favourable financial incentives to encourage them to set up or to relocate in Malta.
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The city tour of the capital Valletta begins with a visit to the Baroque gem that is the St John’s Co-Cathedral, which looms over Valletta like a giant fortress. Completed in 1577 and dedicated to St John the Baptist, the interior of the cathedral explodes in a glorious visual paean with an overpowering display of gold decorations, frescoes, works of art and religious reliquaries. The premier highlight in the cathedral is the oratory, which contains Caravaggio’s masterpiece the Beheading of St John the Baptist (1608), the largest painting produced by the artist. St John’s Co-Cathedral is just one of 25 churches that are to be found on Malta.
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The Upper Barrakka Gardens are a tranquil haven from the hectic main retail thoroughfares that are congested with tourists, the gardens facilitate a spellbinding vista of Valletta’s Grand Harbour and vertiginous views of the imposing Fort St Elmo.
Completed in 1931 in the neo-Romanesque styled Ta’Pinu Basilica is Gozo’s most important place of pilgrimage
The National Museum of Archaeology is housed in the former Auberge de Provence, built for the Order of St John in 1571, and opened as a museum in 1958. The museum is a repository for a treasure trove of fascinating artifacts, splendidly categorized to represent different periods in history from Maltese prehistory, the Neolithic temple period, the Phoenician period, the Bronze Age plus a notable numismatic collection. A visit here is a perspicacious prerequisite to appreciating Malta's early history. A boat trip around the Grand Harbour is specious way to perceive the strategic importance of the harbour today and in the past.
The entrances to the harbour are guarded by impressive fortifications and rampart walls. The dockyards are stocked with gigantic cargo ships, many awaiting their turn for overhaul in the extensive repair yards and dry docks.
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Outside of Valletta’s majestic old city the skyline is dominated by a vista of never-ending apartment blocks reaching ever skywards. Where the gleaming new buildings now stand would have been older traditional houses, these were demolished to facilitate the growing population in a headlong rush towards modernity. There are 400,000 registered cars in Malta, public transport is free to encourage people to either relinquish or limit the use of their vehicles, likewise university education in Malta is also free.
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On the banks of the Grand Harbour opposite Valletta stand the Three Cities – Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua - the most historic of which is Vittoriosa, which became the Knights of St John’s first base in Malta in 1530. It subsequently became a major strategic harbourage for Britain’s Royal Navy in the 19th century and during the Second World War.
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The narrow-cobbled streets of Vittoriosa are ideal for gently ambling around and facilitating serendipity to discover its’ numerous gems. The original Church of St Lawrence was the Knights first conventual church in Malta, the current incarnation of the church was completed in 1681, and it was restored after being badly damaged during the Second World War. The church is a depository for many works of art, amongst them the exquisite main altar piece depicting the martyrdom of St Lawrence.
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The Inquisitor’s Palace is an architectural gem, built in the early 16th century, the Palace was the home of the Holy Roman Inquisition that dominated Malta for over 200 years; this medieval structure still contains cells, a tribunal room and a torture chamber. Also housed in the building is a vast Museum of Ethnography, the museum experience is complimented with a didactic outreach programme of related events and educational sessions. Today it could be said that we are living through a modern Digital Inquisition via the ubiquitous electronic devices that control so many facets of our busy lives.
One of the gigantic ocean liners that tours the Mediterranean docked in Valletta
The enchanting fishing village of Marsaxlokk is set around a picture postcard azure bay. Traditional fishing boats painted in bright colours bob in the harbour, and the quays are adorned with brilliantly coloured fishing nets of cobalt blue and emerald green. All of this kaleidoscopic nostalgia from the past belies the fact that the fishing industry here is in terminal decline, with less than 300 fishermen left plying their trade. Marsaxlokk’s bijou Church of Our Lady of Pompeii was completed in 1890, the limestone Baroque exterior is crowned with twin belltowers, inside the church walls and ceilings are resplendent with various floral motifs and gilded surfaces.
Relaxing at one of Marsaxlokk’s quayside restaurants, having a delicious fish dinner as the sun slips below the horizon is just the quintessential way to chill-out after a hectic day’s touring.
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The Blue Grotto, situated near the tiny village of Wied Iz-Zurrieq, is a network of six caves boasting the most stunning views and clearest blue waters the Maltese Islands have to offer. A boat trip here is an absolute must for any visitor to Malta. The caves are framed by a majestic natural rock arch, whilst the crystal-clear blue waters cast magical reflections onto the limestone walls of the cave that glow with a profusion of corals and sea sponges.
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Located close to the village of Qrendi, the Mnajdra and Hagar Qim Temple Complex consists of a number of monumental megalithic structures, it represents the absolute highlight of any visit to Malta. This incredible UNESCO World Heritage site is the best preserved and most evocative of Malta’s many megalithic temples. Built between 3600 and 2500 BC – predating the famous circle at Stonehenge in England – they are among the most ancient religious sites on earth. The temples are appointed in an attractive rural landscape, where relatively little has changed since the temple period. Mighty doorways, internal rooms, steps and altars bear astonishing witness to the expert craftsmanship that the people of these islands produced over 5,000 years ago. The large honey coloured limestone blocks of these shrines are set neatly interlocking, the largest stone in the complex stands 5.2 metres high and weighs 57 tons. A number of these immense stones distributed around the complex additionally display elaborate intriguing carvings.
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The temples epitomize a stone calendar, wherein the sun’s rays pierce through the temple entrance on the summer and winter solstice to exactly illuminate two strategically positioned ritual stones. These ancient builders would have possessed an extraordinary knowledge of astronomical alignment; this would have enabled them to regulate planting seasons and produce crops thus supporting a sustainable community. Excavations have revealed that animal sacrifice and fertility rituals may have also been practiced by these ancient Neolithic denizens.
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A visit to the informative onsite Interpretation Centre proffers a holistic opportunity to appreciate the history of the site and view numerous artifacts recovered during its excavation. In total Malta has an agglomeration of 24 megalithic temple sites, affording archaeologists an Aladdin’s cave of opportunity, encompassing a Sisyphean task of material to be researched and catalogued.
The village of Imgarr is home to a local entrepreneur who has a thriving business model that embraces farming and wine production. Crops such as aubergines, tomatoes and strawberries flourish in large greenhouses, whilst an impressive limestone cellar is the storage facility for the wine produced on site. A tour and explanation on how these products are produced is followed by lunch consisting of the inhouse victuals including, bread and olive oil, copious vegetables and wine, which is a marvellous surprise and richly appreciated.
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The Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady - commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta - is a Roman Catholic Basilica sited in the town of Mosta. Built in the mid-19th century, its specious neoclassical design is based on the Pantheon in Rome, the basilica is Malta’s egregious ecclesiastical building. The basilica narrowly avoided destruction during the Second World War when on 9th April 1942 a German aerial bomb pierced the dome and fell into the interior, but fortunately failed to explode. The dome projects skywards to a height of 60 metres and has a majestically sweeping diameter of 40 metres, at one time making it the third-largest dome in the world. Adjacent to the basilica is a Second World War bunker, its narrow labyrinthine underground passageways contain a collection of exhibits relating to that particular juncture (1939-1945) in Malta’s history.
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Serving as a burial ground from Punic, Roman and Byzantine times, St Pauls Catacombs in Rabat are a paradigm of the earliest and largest archaeological evidence of Christianity in Malta. Consisting of an extensive system of underground galleries and tombs, the catacombs are believed to have housed over 1000 bodies and were in use up to the 7th century AD. Numerous raised walkways allow access through the catacombs, with many burial depressions hewn out from the rock where the bodies would have once been laid to rest. The catacombs instructive Information Centre provides details of the sundry stages and rituals of burial that pertained during the various epochs of the catacombs use.
Highly colourful fishing boats in the harbour at Marsaxlokk in Malta
The Domus Romana in Rabat contains the time-worn remnants of what was an opulent town house that would have once belonged to a Roman dignitary. The adjacent National Museum of Roman Antiquities, a beautiful neoclassical building opened in 1882, is a repository for a collection of wonderful mosaics, sculptures, frescoes and other fine artifacts from the Roman era found during excavations of the Domus, and other locations around the island.
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A walk through the winding narrow alleyways of the old city of Mdina, once the medieval capital of Malta, reveals a
​magical city girdled by sturdy fortified walls, encompassing a plethora of the most beautiful Norman and Baroque architecture, including palaces, churches and museums; several of the palaces now serve as private homes.
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This diminutive time capsule of a city has a resident population of approximately 250, and is one of Malta’s premier tourist attractions, hosting around 1.5 million visitors a year.
The final stop on this revelatory journey is the San Anton Botanical Gardens that are tucked away in a suburb of Attard. These tranquil and beautiful gardens are attached to a splendid summer palace - built in the 17th century - that is now the residence of the president of Malta. Manicured flowerbeds and elegantly arranged flowerpots explode in a riot of vivid colours, whilst elegant water fountains, exotic trees and old stone urns all create a halcyon atmosphere and make these gardens a tranquil botanical delight.
An Overview
Situated in the heart of the Mediterranean, the tiny islands of Malta and Gozo pack an extraordinary amount of visitor attractions into their compact landmass. Among the many highlights on this trip were the incredible UNESCO World Heritage temple complexes, the boat trip around Valletta harbour, the Blue Grotto and the amazing Domus Romana.
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With 7,000 years of history, megalithic temples aplenty, culture, world -class architecture and a vibrant nightlife, the islands have something for every taste. Surrounded by sparkling clear azure waters, and with 300 days per year of sunshine, Malta and Gozo are the ideal holiday destination. Other tourist hot-spots such as the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands have become over saturated with a surfeit of tourists, this zeitgeist greatly diluting any holiday experience. With all it has to offer the inquisitive visitor, it is axiomatic to see Malta and Gozo becoming the next must go-to destination on many a bucket list.
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