Malta
Malta’s Neolithic Sites
November 2019 The historic timeline of Malta differed little from any other Neolithic society around the Mediterranean. That is, until 3500BCE. The sophisticated architecture of the structures from this period predates all other world cultures in the building of free-standing buildings in stone by almost 1000 years. The megalithic temples of Malta have been dated … Read more
Southern Malta
November 9, 2019 Mosta, Malta The Rotunda of Mosta is built in the neoclassical style, and its structure is based on the Pantheon in Rome. The church was designed by Giorgio Grognet de Vassè. Grognet was of French descent but was a Maltese born architect-engineer and antiquarian with a prolific knowledge of the classics. Much of … Read more
Protecting Malta
Valetta, Malta November 8, 2019 Protecting Valetta A harbor tour is the best way to understand the massive undertaking humanity has done to protect the strategic islands of Malta. Malta sits almost dead center in the Mediterranean Sea, making it a strategic point of interest, no matter what era you want to look at in … Read more
Caravaggio and Malta
November 8, 2019 Caravaggio is a painter with a range that stupefies. These innocent paintings, while filled with sexual inuendos, are what many expected of the Italian painters of his time, and yet, his brilliance really showed in his ability to capture the macabre and make … Read more
Saint Johns Co-Cathedral
Valetta, Malta November 8, 2019 Recognized as one of the most incredible examples of the high baroque style, Saint Johns Co-Cathedral defies explanation. The exterior is so plain as to be mistaken for any other building in the neighborhood, and then you step inside. St John’s was commissioned in 1572 and built by the Knights … Read more
Malta and the Knights of Saint John
November 7, 2019 The Maltese Islands went through a golden Neolithic period. Later the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, and the Byzantines, all left their traces on the Islands. In 60 A.D. St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island while on his way to Rome and brought Christianity to Malta. The Arabs conquered the islands … Read more