After a day at sea we reached Malta.
We arrived as the sun was rising and it bathed the landscape in a golden light that reminded me of Venice.
Throughout much of its history, Malta has been considered a crucial strategic location due in large part to its position in the Mediterranean Sea just south of Sicily. It was held by several ancient cultures including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians, Byzantines and others. The island is commonly associated with the Knights of St. John who ruled it. This, along with the historic Biblical shipwreck of St. Paul on the island, ingrained a strong Roman Catholic legacy.
I could not tell what their flag was because there was a variety of flags everywhere.
Our tour took us first to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. It was early and very quiet still.
We had been told to look out for the “eye” on the fishing boats.
Called luzzu (pronounced loot-su in Maltese) these are traditional Maltese fishing boats. Brightly painted in shades of yellow, red, green and blue their bow is normally pointed with a pair of eyes. These eyes may be the modern survival of an ancient Phoenician custom. The luzzu is one of the symbols of Malta and is featured on the reverse of the older series (1979-89) of Maltese lira coins. But mostly they make for wonderful photos.
Next we visited a vineyard. The vines are grown in the traditional way as opposed to Greek vines that are twisted in a nest like shape close to the ground.
In true cruise tour fashion we were next whisked to a glass blowing factory and a pottery shop. There was nothing there that I wanted to buy although these tabletops caught my fancy. I could picture such a table by a pool in someone’s garden.
But the real spectacular site was St John’s cathedral and we did that on our own after leaving the group near the center of Valletta.
The interior, in sharp contrast with the facade, is extremely ornate.
Everywhere you look there are works of art, sculptures, paintings, gold, even the floor is spectacular with inlaid marbles…
The Cathedral contains eight rich chapels, each of which was dedicated to the patron saint of the 8 langues (or sections) of the Knights. Each is dedicated to a saint and often holds a monument to the benefactor who commissioned the work.
We took an audio guide to visit this church and it was well worth it.
Afterwards we walked back through deserted streets…
Sailing away from this fortified city was sad…so little time for such a lovely island.
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