Malta has been a jewel in the crown of many a ruler over the centuries. Before the Bronze Age and back to the Stone Age around 5,200 B.C., people worshipped the goddess of fertility here, carving her curves into its highest hills. They left us the world's oldest free-standing structures: the meagalithic Mnajdra Temple where the dawns of the first day of a new season yields an other worldly sundial. On summer solstice, June 21, 2008, you can see this ancient sundial come to life in Malta.
Photo by: MichaelUtech
Malta was then fought over viciously by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans (who liked to retire here) and the Byzantines. Napoleon Bonaparte even ruled it for two years after a 268-year rule by the Knights of the Soverign Military Order of Jerusalem.
Saint Paul the apostle was shipwrecked on one of the Maltese islands in 60 A.D. and converted the people to Christianity. Malta remains today one of the most Christian nations in the world with more churches than days in the year.
Malta is a living fairytale of Mediterranean mystery. It will take your breath away with sights like the megaliths, medieval dungeons and Calypso's Cave where the famous Greek poet Homer wrote of Odysseus being held prisoner by a beautiful nymph named Calypso for seven years.
Some call Malta an open-air museum where you can stroll down narrow European streets that weave between Renaissance Cathedrals and Baroque palaces. One outdoor spectacle you don't want to miss, especially if you have a thing for guns, is the world's largest cannon, the 100-Ton Armstrong gun in Fort Rinella.
Malta is the largest and most commercialized island of the three with the former capital city of Mdina. Gozo is the second largest island with a more primary industries such as fishing, tourism and agriculture. The last island, Comino, is the smallest of Malta's islands and mainly uninhabited but often visited for its infamous Blue Lagoon, where Madonna filmed Swept Away.
Photo by: Devolution
For more about Malta check out:
Visit Malta
http://visitmalta.com/main
Heritage Malta
http://www.heritagemalta.org/
Order of Malta
http://www.orderofmalta.org/
