Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0235/02352.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 22KB | 413 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02352}
$Pretitle{430}
$Title{Malta
Malta Where the sun shines from the heart}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{National Tourist Agency}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Malta, Washington DC}
$Subject{malta
maltese
knights
island
winter
history
malta's
gozo
km
valletta}
$Date{1988}
$Log{}
Country:     Malta
Book:        Country and Tourist Information
Author:      National Tourist Agency
Affiliation: Embassy of Malta, Washington DC
Date:        1988

Malta Where the sun shines from the heart

Cradle of the Mediterranean

     Malta has often been referred to as the island of sunshine and history
and with good reason. For, throughout your stay in Malta you will find a
surfeit of both.

     Malta's history was, in a sense, pre-destined for it by its excellent
natural harbour and strategic location. The harbour provided a sheltered base
for naval fleets whilst the island itself, situated at the crossroads of the
Mediterranean, enabled its colonising power to exercise control over shipping
in this vast and turbulent sea. Hardly surprising therefore, that Malta has
always exerted an irresistible attraction to the would-be military powers of
successive epochs. Control over Malta was a prerequisite to domination of the
Mediterranean and for this reason all the various powers that, at one time
or other, held sway over the Mediterranean at that same time exercised control
over Malta. The long list of Malta's colonizers, the Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Castilians, Knights of St.
John, the French, and finally, the British is indicative of the important role
Malta played in the moulding of European and Mediterranean history. The list
of important visitors to the island, from the Apostle Paul to Napoleon and
Nelson is equally impressive. It is no exaggeration therefore, that Malta's
history is a good starting point for a study of the history of the region.

     If you want to enjoy Malta soak up its history. History, in Malta,
stares you in the face and you cannot escape from it. The good thing is that
you will enjoy its captivating intensity.

History

     The intelligent visitor is never satisfied with just skimming the surface
of his holiday destination. His appetite for learning urges him to delve
deeper into the origins and history of the country and the people he is
visiting. In this respect few other countries provide as much satisfaction as
Malta, for the island is steeped in history. Every square inch of its land and
its temples and monuments bear witness to a civilisation which, in may ways,
is unparalleled.

     In spite of its small size Malta's strategic location, at the crossroads
of the Mediterranean, has meant that, over the centuries, the island has
played a very important role in the vicissitudes of the region, right from the
early days of civilisation up to the present times.

     All the various periods of Malta's history make fascinating reading, but
there are two particular periods-the neolithic period and the period of the
Knights of St John - which stand out from the rest because they are unique to
Malta. On their own the remains of these two periods constitute a good enough
reason to visit Malta.

The Neolithic Temples - glimpses of a mysterious past

     Until recently, the egyptian pyramids were thought to be the oldest
architectural monuments in existence. Recent archaeological research however,
has shown that the earliest Neolithic temples on Malta are about 1000 years
older than the famous pyramids of Giza. Huge rocks, several tons in weight
were used in the construction of these temples. Even with modern techniques
and tools this would not be an easy task today. How these enormous loads were
moved, or even lifted, 5000 or 6000 years ago, remains a mystery.

     The earliest temples, such as the one at Ggantija on Gozo, were built by
the piling of huge rocks on top of each other. They did not have any carving
or decoration. Later temples, such as the one at Hagar Qim, in Malta were made
of huge stones fitting very closely together and ornately decorated. Carving
was done with only very primitive flint and obsidian tools. No archaeological
remains made of metal from this period have been discovered on Malta. One
theory is that this prehistoric people did not use metal because they foresaw,
in its use, their own future destruction.

     The subterranean burial place at Malta's Hal Saflieni, the so-called
Hypogeum, is an even more astonishing relic and its accidental discovery in
1902 caused quite a sensation in world archaeological circles. The temple must
have been literally carved into the rocks over hundreds of years with simple
tools made from flint and obsidian. Starting at ground level the Hypogeum
descends several storeys below ground and covers an area of more than 500
square metres. The Hypogeum was certainly a place of worship and burial - the
bones of over 7000 people have been found - and could also have been used as a
place for the training of priestesses. A number of relics support this
hypothesis.

     All trace of the mysterious people who built the Hypogeum disappeared
suddenly around 2000 BC - at the height of their culture. How this peaceful
people disappeared we will never know. It remains pure speculation as to
whether conquerors with modern metal weapons wiped out this unarmed,
unfortified people, or whether a sudden epidemic destroyed all human life on
Malta for centuries. Equally strange and mysterious are the cart ruts found on
many of the rocky ridges in Malta. The most popular theory is that these were
made by primitive slide-carts used before the invention of the wheel.

Culture

The knights

     Many hundreds of years after the Neolithic period and precisely in 1530,
the Knights of the Order of St. John brought about another epoch of great
cultural significance to the island. This is not to say that between the
sudden disappearance of the Neolithic culture and the arrival of the Knights
nothing had happened. Quite the contrary. Many relics and remains bear witness
to important historical events in this period. However, no unique or
individual culture had originated from the many peoples - the Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Castillians - who colonized the
island in this prolonged interval.

     The history of the Knights of St John begins in the middle of the
eleventh century in the Holy Land. The Order's original duties were to care
for the sick and wounded Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land and to help the
poor. But very soon their duties expanded; the fight against the 'infidels'
became of equal or even greater importance. The Knights became 'Soldiers of
Christ'. They acquired and maintained huge estates and castles in the Holy
Land and finally owned a large fleet.

     With the loss of Acre to the Moslems in 1291, however, the fate of the
Knights was sealed. They withdrew to Rhodes and acted as a shield against the
Turks for two centuries until 1522 when Suleiman the Magnificent ousted the
Knights from Rhodes. They now needed a new homeland and, in 1530, moved to
Malta to which they were given tenure by Emperor Charles V.

     The Knights quickly improved trade and commerce on the islands, built new
hospitals and, most important, erected new strong fortifications. But Suleiman
wanted to destroy the Order completely and use Malta as a base from which to
attack Southern Europe. In 1565 he set out with a strong fleet to drive the
Knights out of Malta.

     The siege which his navy laid on Malta, referred to by the Maltese as the
Great Siege of 1565, lasted four months with fighting of almost unimaginable
ferocity. Although heavily outnumbered, the Knights stood firm and finally
won, assisted by the Maltese people and by last minute reinforcements from
Sicily. The Turks had no alternative but to beat retreat leaving behind them
an impressive number of dead amongst whom the feared corsair Dragut.

     The Knights of St. John had successfully protected Southern Europe and
Chris