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Valletta, Malta |
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It was a two day sail from Alexandria, northeast, to the Island of
Malta. A journey back up to my kind of civilization, the 'European'
kind. And I had never been there - one of three countries on the
trip I had never visited!
Malta is centrally located in the Mediterranean, just below Sicily and above Libya (and Tunisia). It is an archipelago of a number of islands, only three of which are populated, and only one of which, the Island of Malta itself, is of any consequence at all. It is one of the smallest, yet most densely populated countries in the world, consisting of only 122 sq mi in total, with a population of over 400,000 people. This evens out to a whopping 3,300 people/sq mi. Its history can be dated back to 5200 BC, and because of its' location in the central Mediterranean, the Islands of Malta have been the primary object of successive, successful invasions to dominate and control the area, and influence anybody interested in crossing the Mediterranean Sea in any direction. This originally started with the Sicilians, then the Greeks, the Phoenicians, then the Romans and the Greeks back and forth, back and forth, followed by the Byzantines, the Italians and the Normans. Napoleon passed through for a few days on his way down to Egypt, and chalked Malta up to his Empire around 1798. But the Maltese (the people, not the birds) didn't like him, or the French, all that much, so they convinced the British to drive the French out in 1814. In 1964 the Islands received independence under the Queen, in 1974 it became a republic within the Commonwealth (what that difference is, you got me), and it finally gained autonomy in 1979. We entered the harbor of Valletta, the capital and main port, very early in the morning (before 11). The magnificent fortifications, and the walls of the city, along with the remarkable domed and spired skyline of this devoutly Catholic country, was an impressive sight to behold. |
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Catholicism reigns supreme here, with 98+% of the population being
Roman Catholic.
Back in the late 1400s a group of Christians who called themselves the Grand Masters were in charge of protecting Jerusalem for the Pilgrims. But, they were attacked and expelled by the Ottomans in the early 1500s. They wandered west - and the King of Spain came to their rescue and gave them the Islands of Malta (in exchange for one Maltese Falcon - yes, it seems Maltese Falcons actually live on Malta...). This was in 1530, and at that time, the Grand Masters became known as the Knights of Malta (the title of 'the Maltese Falcons' having already been claimed). From that date on, until the early 1600s, the city of Valletta was fortified and Christianized (and therefore churched) beyond belief.
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