Malta Culture 365

The Auberges were buildings which were used as hostels by knights of the same langue or language. In some cases, there were more than one auberge for knights from the same country especially in cases where there were many knights coming from disparate parts of the country such as in the case of France and Spain. The surviving buildings in Valletta are all used for some form of public office as explained further below. Auberge de Castile y Leon Auberge de Castille as it is  The building was originally constructed in the late 16th century by Girolamo Cassar originally for the langues of Castile and Leon. It was extensively remodelled by Grand Master Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca between 1741 and 1744. The auberge is built on the highest point of Valletta and is one of the most recognisable buildings locally. The site was originally planned to host the Magisterial Palace, but it was deemed to be too exposed and thus the palace was shifted closer to the centre of the city. The buildin...

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...

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 ...

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...