Valletta, Malta, was a happy surprise. We had never been there and didn't know what to expect. Our cruise director encouraged everyone to be outside, on deck, as we cruised into Valletta at 7 a.m. because, "It's beautiful." It was. The city was made of golden sandstone and shimmered in the morning light. The harbor, we were told, was the best natural harbor in Europe.
We noted the ship in dry dock. Valletta's industries are involved in many aspects of shipping. The Celebrity Silhouette is registered in Valletta.
Valletta has been a crossroads of cultures for thousands of years--first by Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. It was chosen by the Knights of St. John, in the 1500s, as their capital, after they were evicted from Rhodes by the Turks. The Knights of St. John were founded by aristocrats from Europe during the Crusades, to act as protectors of the pilgrims traveling to and from Jerusalem. Later, they became militant and fought off the Turks who tried to invade Europe. For centuries, Malta was ruled by Knights from eight separate kingdoms, who each had palaces in Valletta. Their supreme ruler was the "Grand Master." In the late 1700s, Napoleon conquered Valletta and then, from 1800 to 1964, it was ruled by the English. We began our tour by walking across a bridge, over a moat, into the Old City.
The gate was marked with an intricate crest, one of dozens of flags, crests and banners identifying Maltese conquerors.
We were in Valletta on a Sunday, which was also the island's Memorial Day. We paused in the city's Memorial Park, filled with heroic statues honoring various distinguished people and events. "What does Alfred Einstein have to do with Malta?" one of our tour mates asked. "Nothing," our tour guide said. "We have a statue of him just because we admire him."
The Memorial Park looked over Valletta's perfect harbor, including its old fort.
We wandered through the city, past its beautiful buildings. We passed cannons brought by the British to defend the island, a statue of one of the Knights of St. John accepting the charter to the city, and a statue of Pope Pius V, one of the many popes who dabbled in Mediterranean politics.
Coming and going, we passed military bands, parading around Valletta in honor of Memorial Day.
We also passed policemen carefully protecting what we assumed were the city's "bigwigs"--large and self-important--and ushering them into shiny, chauffeur-driven cars.
We paused at the Archeological Museum. Ancient Maltese fashioned gods and goddesses and temples as early as 3600 B.C. "before Stonehenge or the Pyramids," as our guide pointed out. The goddesses were headless and very fertile-looking, and the altars looked like something used by the Canaanites.
We toured the Palace where the president of Malta now governs. Malta is independent and a member of the EU. There were suits of armor, intricately painted walls and ceilings, marble seals of Malta embedded in the floors, and paintings of the "Grand Masters" of the Knights of St. John.
Alas, the cathedral was closed to all but "worshippers." Our large tour group didn't qualify. We could only admire its bell towers and the mosaics along its outside walls. Inside, above its altar, is a famous painting by Caravaggio. Another time.
Because of Valletta's multicultural past, its language is based on Arabic, but uses the European alphabet, rather than the Arabic one. These choir boys, stationed outside a church, advertise a message in Maltese that doesn't look like any words from Latin, Slavic, or Greek--"Ghinni nsir oassis."
As a Mediterranean land, Malta has a café culture. Old men relaxed together around an outdoor table. A man dressed for Memorial Day with his chest full of medals sat on a bench in the piazza. We ate our gelato and watched everyone else. One of the cafes advertised that it was founded in 1837, soon after the British arrived.
Maltese crosses and Maltese dogs originate in Malta. We saw Maltese crosses in all the shops, and I bought one to remember this picturesque spot. I don't remember any Maltese dogs. I guess they're fake.
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