Carrell Clips: Malta the Magnificent

Malta was our first port of call. We had no idea it was so gorgeous.

Malta has a very strategic position in the Mediterranean so it has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, etc. The most famous time in Maltese history was in the 1500s when the Knights of St. John controlled it. They were attacked by the Ottoman Turks in 1565 and amazingly the Knights and Maltese beat the Turks. The Knights ruled Malta until Napoleon came and tricked them in 1798. The French only controlled Malta for a couple of years as the Maltese hated them and other countries were only too happy to help them. Malta became part of the British empire in 1814. Malta is half way between Gibraltar and the Suez Canal so it was very helpful to the Brits. Malta was important to the Allies during WWII. It was heavily bombed for two years and the Maltese were so brave that they were awarded the "George Cross" from the King of England the highest civilian award for gallantry. It is usually given to individuals- but King George VI said, "to honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history."

Look how calm and beautiful the water is.

At the Upper Barracca Garden- overlooking the port.

Emery- you can see Fort St. Angelo in the background. This is the fort where the Maltese and the Knights defeated the Turks.

Dan, Danny and Cheri

So beautiful.

Our ship. The city of Valletta all started out as a fortress.

Emery was whispering something in my ear...

Upper Barracca Gardens. I think the arches look great.

Clearly, Jake did NOT want his sisters encroaching his space. We started out exploring Malta on a Disney Tour- but it was dumb and we weren't learning anything. SO- we left and explored on our own.

We found the St. John's Co-Cathedral. It doesn't look like much on the outside- but look at the inside!

Wow! It's the home of the Knights (Grand Masters) of Malta. On their website they describe it as "a gem of Baroque art and architecture." I would totally agree. It's incredible! They also have a painting by Caravaggio of the beheading of John the Baptist. (It was also amazing.)