Malta Culture 365

Lippija tower

Borgo Vilhena as Floriana was originally known is many times considered a suburb of Valletta. Possibly owing to this it is significantly under appreciated and many times seen as little more than a thoroughfare through which one travels to get to one's ultimate destination. Nevertheless, Floriana is a gem in its own right as hopefully this trail will show.  Floriana's name came from that of Pietro Paola Floriani, an Italian military engineer who was commissioned to design the Floriana Lines after in 1632, Grand Master Antoine de Paule received credible information that the Ottomans were preparing themselves for another attack on Malta. Floriani's design resulted in a massive system of multi tiered fortifications which are still largely visible, if not completely accessible. Although there were many objections to his project, mainly based on the expense and huge garrison required to defend it, Floriani defended the project by confirming that it could shelter the entire popula...

Large ship graffito on a chapel in Mosta Graffiti is normally thought of as being street art or vandalism, making use of spray or other paints. It is a means of expression that has been around for a while however, albeit making use of different means. The older version of graffiti we have in Malta are scratches on the local limestone, which being rather soft, lends itself quite easily to this. The majority of historic graffiti consists of ships and other sea vessels on chapel facades, however there are other examples of graffiti such as individuals, ensigns and coat of arms and others.  Three small graffiti of maritime craft. The most common type of historic graffiti consists of ships, the majority of which have been dated to the Knights' period. In the same way that we now use social media to expose things we like or experiences to our friends, in the past the same process was followed making use of the means available. Thus graffiti were mainly a means of showing other people new...

Iż-Żejtun is another of the older Maltese villages and has Phoenician and Roman origins. It was originally know as Terra Santa Catarina and was much larger than the current local council designation since it included a substantial part of the south eastern part of Malta, up to Cottonera. Up until 1680, Żejtun primarily had two separate residential communities: Bisqallin which is still known as Ir-Raħal t’Isfel and Ħal Ġwann and Ħal Bisbut, known as Ir-Raħal ta’ Fuq. In the eighteenth century when the new parish church was constructed between these the two communities, the present urban conglomeration was formed and Żejtun as we know it today came into being. The last Grandmaster of the order during their time in Malta conferred the title of Citta Beland to Żejtun, his mother's surname in 1797. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a digital map which you can use to follow the route.  This walk around Żejtun starts off not from the parish church but from Aedis Danielis ...

Salt is one of the ancient commodities such that it brought prosperity to places where it was available. It was deemed to be so important that Roman legionaries were given part of their wages in salt, resulting in a word we still use to this day: salārium or salary. The origins of salt production around the Maltese Islands are unknown, which leads one to assume that the production of this primary good from a renewable source has been established from well before the formalisation of its production by the Knights. The name of the locality of Mellieħa comes from the salt pans originally extant in the vicinity of Għadira which are denoted as saline vecchie (old salt pans) in maps produced during the time of the Knights in Malta. Gian Franġisk Abela refer to them as primitive pans in his 1647 publication and from the description it appears they were located more or less where the bird sanctuary is today. One of the fresco paintings of the Great siege by Perez d'Aleccio  in the Grandma...

Ancient apiaries Malta has been known for a number of products over the centuries, with one of the interesting ones being honey. The local flora such as wild thyme ( sagħtar ), orange blossoms ( żagħar ) and carob flowers have made for honey being one of the tastier and more sought after honey in the Mediterranean. So much so that the Phoenician name for Malta was Melite or "honey sweet" if one were to translate it literally. This evolved to Melita and eventually Malta, but the association of Malta with honey remains to the present day. We have a number of apiaries scattered around the Islands, however the best examples are the ones to the North of the island mainly in Xemxija and Selmun in Mellieħa. The ones near the Roman road in Xemxija originate das low caves which were walled off and niches left leading to terracotta containers were the hive was built and the honey collected. The other set which is located in Mistra Valley consists of spaces hewn from the live rock altho...

Mosta is in the geographic centre of Malta. Some say that the name Mosta or Musta as it used to be pronounced until fairly recently is derived from the Arabic root W-S-T which means centre. Others are of the opinion that the name is derived from the Arabic adjective mistur or hidden. Whatever the source of the name, modern day Mosta has grown into one of the more popular towns in Malta, not only owing to its being well connected and well served with amenities, but the people it has produced are amongst the most patriotic of the Maltese Islands. For a map of the walk, scroll down to the bottom of the page or access it directly here . Mosta is most known for its Rotunda, Giorgio Grognet de Vasse's masterpiece which is visible from a significant distance away from Mosta proper. This church which replaced a typical Latin cross planned church design by Tumas Dingli started off  in a quite controversial manner. The design is strongly inspired by the pantheon in Rome as th...

The Victoria Lines Walk The Victoria Lines are a line of fortifications that span across Malta. The intent of the North West Front as the original name of the lines was planned to be was to focus the defence on the south east part of Malta which was more heavily populated and had less beaches, and thus was more defensible. The lines run along a natural barrier known as the Great Fault and further defends this natural step in the landscape. This significant military endeavour spans across 12 kilometres and is for the most part easy to walk along taking in the vistas of the more rural part of Malta. The construction of the Lines commenced in the late 19th Century and they were inaugurated in 1897, the same year Queen Victoria had her Jubilee, hence their being named the Victoria Lines. The lines were deemed obsolete by 1907, a short time after completion and thus they remained untested and ...