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Article: Malta's Masterpieces - Constructed by the knights who originally aided sick pilgrims to the holy land, the city of Valletta on the Mediterranean Island of Malta survives as a testament to its builders.
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- January 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On a map, the three islands of Malta look like a spatter of freckles on the face of the Mediterranean. But all my thoughts of diminutive dimensions disappeared as I flew over Valletta, the capital city. Massively walled and buttressed with forts, it guards a vast port, crucial to the islands' history and fittingly called the Grand Harbour.
Such superlatives abound on Malta, as do mysteries. Its megalithic temples are the oldest known human structures in the world, while the idols found there are the world's oldest statues of deities. For centuries, Valletta, built by the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the sixteenth century, was the most heavily ...