Malta

Located about 93 km south of Sicily, the island of Malta is part of a larger archipelago of coral limestone islands measuring about 312 square kilometers. The coastline is indented with bays and harbors, and the interior coprises many low hills and terraced agricultural areas.

Malta’s capital city, Valleta, reflects much of the island’s heritage. Founded by the French Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, is filled with churches and palaces built of limestone, many fo which date back to the 16th century. Valleta is especially well known for its wealth of “auberges,” or inns, where young knights once lived dormitory style. Most of these original buildings have been converted to government offices, and include the parliament building and prime minister’s residence. The National Museum of Archaeology is located here, with its collections of prehistoric pottery, sculpture and stone ornaments and tools, as is the National Museum of Fine Arts. St. John’s Co-Cathedral, built in 1573, is home to Caravaggio’s masterpiece, “The Beheading of St. John,” as well as the beautifully painted ceiling rendered by famed artist Mattia Preti.

Malta is also known for its fortified towns of Vittoriosa, Caspicua, and Senglea, referred to as the three cities of Cottonera, and dating to the late 1500s. Tarxien is known through the world for its megalithic temples erected in the third and fourth millennium BCE. These three temples are renowned for their massive stone walls, cryptic relief carvings of idols and animals, and stone sacrificial altars.