One, three, five days in Malta
Malta is more than a beach, it’s a country. Moreover, it has a rich cultural heritage rather than a veneer laid on for the tourist. This island grows on you as you discover it. But ideally, its concentration of treasures should only be consumed in small sips like espresso coffee. But this is not possible if your stay is a short one.
Even if you’re only here for a day or two, Mdina, the old capital, with its magnificent residences and bastions, must be visited. There are three entrances to this walled city and all three are gateways, inasmuch as they can be closed with heavy wooden doors. The architecture of Mdina needs no analysis. Here the stones speak for themselves. Every corner of every lane brings a new, unexpected and beautiful façade or arch, doorway or niche. This city is small. It is less than a quarter of a mile long from its elegant arched entrance to the Belvedere on the bastion which is garlanded with caper bushes. The Cathedral Museum contains various art treasures including a fine collection of Dürer woodcuts and paintings.
Valletta is the heart of Malta. The pulse of the city is strong. It is deeply steeped in its long history under a sun which, on hot summer days, makes the cool shade of the cafés look inviting. Go to the Upper Barrakka gardens and look at the magnificent harbour. The sun-drenched fortifications of the Three Cities opposite rise in embattled splendour. Then walk around Valletta with its vignettes of Maltese life. There are so many splendid buildings, mostly Baroque but also the new Parliament by Renzo Piano. And just outside the newly restored and dazzling Triton Fountain. Several buildings and bastions have been expertly restored over the last few years. Look up and admire the architectural details. Don’t miss them.
As you enter on the left, take in Palazzo Ferreria, the palace which replaced the foundry of the Order where the Knights’ armaments used to be manufactured. Church-crawling in Malta is of a high order and the place to start is St John’s Co-Cathedral. Its plain façade belies a sumptuous interior. Work on St John’s started in 1573 and it was dedicated to St John the Baptist, patron saint of the Order. The oratory was added in 1603. Its most noteworthy feature is Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist. There is also the exquisite portrait of St Jerome, also by Caravaggio. The model for this is Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt himself. Another church of high order is that of St Paul’s Shipwreck, erected in 1570, soon after Valletta’s foundation stone was laid in 1566. Precious marbles, mosaic tomb slabs, frescoes and dazzling chandeliers help create a rich interior. When St Paul’s feast is celebrated in February, the splendid pieces of silver come out.
Walk down Republic Street until you reach the Grand Master’s Palace. This, like St John’s Co-Cathedral, shares an overall austere appearance on the outside in keeping with the severe ideals which the Order professed. Neptune’s shaded courtyard on the ground floor has rooms to the sides of the arcades. These once served as stores as well as stables. The Palace also houses the Palace Armoury certainly worth a visit if time permits. The Goblin tapestries that grace the Council Chamber of the Knights depict not the call of the church militant but the call of the wild. The natives portrayed follow no specific ethnic types but are an elegant amalgam of numerous races.
When your eyes have become accustomed to the low light you are immediately surrounded by a feast of the exotic. The tapestries depict the Legends of the Indes Galantes and the Noble Savage — a rich display of hunters, fishermen and Indian princes set against backgrounds of teeming tropical abundance, small animals, exotic birds, fish, reptiles, fruits and plants. They are the products of a time when exploration and the marvels of the distant unknown had captured the romantic imagination. As they all have the coat-of-arms of Grand Master Perellos woven into the borders at the top it is very possible that they were a special commission woven to exact measurements.
Mdina, Valletta and its Grand Harbour, the view of the Three Cities, its palaces and its cathedrals are all gems, but there is so much more to Malta.
A visit to the Three Cities, especially Birgu where the Knights first settled after Rhodes, with Fort St Elmo and its Inquisitor’s Palace, will be a revelation. St Anton Palace and gardens, the hypogeum in Tarxien, the prehistoric temples, ancient and mysterious, are also a must-see. You will simply have to return for more.
