Malta
Golfing
in the Knights' headquarters
What to see (2)
Late in the afternoon join Valetta's ritual passeggiata,
a daily pageant of street life or go to Sliema
or Saint-Julian's seafront to dinner along
the sailing boats harbours. At the east end of Malta, Marsaxlokk
is a fisher port with hundreds of luzzi, the famous colored
Maltese fisher boats. And along the quays, outside restaurants
serve fresh fished seafood at Maltese style.
Neolithic temples of Hagar Qim, as others in Malta and Gozo,
are known as the oldest human structures in the world. Animals
and idols are carved in the temples where the Mother Goddess
figurines were found. Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temple are near
the village of Qrendi on the west of the island behind the
airport.
At 15 kms west from Valetta, Mdina is an
ancient village so-called Citta Notabile (Noble City) because
many aristocratic Maltese families where living and still
live in town. The best-preserved medieval building is the
Norman-style Palazzo Falzon, built
in 1495. Mdina has a beautiful main piazza, where to find
the 11th-century Roman Catholic Sicula-Norman Cathedral,
one of the few buildings to survive an earthquake in 1693.
The cathedral museum houses a collection of Dürer woodcuts
and the historical audio-video shows of Malta Experience have
to be seen in their different palaces.
Near Mdina, Rabat is a small city where to
visit the St Agatha’s and St Paul’s catacombs,
underground cemeteries of the Christian communities dating
from the Roman occupation in the V and VI centuries. St Paul
was jailed there for six months.
Ta Qali handicrafts village lies downhill of Mdina
with its embroideries, fine jewelleries, handwoven fabrics,
glass blowers… while in the nearby country the Meridiana
Wine Estate organizes tours and wine-tastings
to discover the Maltese wines which deserve to be known like
the tasteful white chardonnay or the red Bel (syrah), Nexus
(merlot) or Melqart (blend of cabernet and merlot).
At Cirkewwa, north of the island, the ferry
drives to Gozo, Malta's sister island. Along the way, the
tiny Comino, archipelago's third
island, bas been named for the cumin plants that once flourished
there.
Gozo is a very different world of rustic
lifestyle with an eerie sense of the ancient Mediterranean
world of myths and shadows. Moreover at Ggantija,
the Stonehenge-like temple complex erected to honor the Earth
Mother some 5,600 years ago, a thousand years before Egypt's
better-known pyramids. he centre of the island, Victoria,
has a sleepy 17th-century feel. The view from atop the Citadel,
or 'Gran Costello', takes in the entire island. One can also
retrace the footsteps of Ulysses. After the Troia war, his
ship ran aground the coast and he was captivated by the nymph
Calypso who promised him eternal youth if he accepted to settle
definitely. He staid at Calypso's Cave
for seven years enjoying the wonderful beach of Ramla
and the clear waters where today tourist come
for diving as well at the fenestra azzure.
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Marsaxlook
Mdina
Windmill in Gozo
5600 years old stones at Gozo
Blue window at Gozo
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