Malta

Malta is an archipelago located in the Mediterranean sea. It has three main islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino.
The history of Malta started around 4500 BC, when a group of people arrived from Sicily, from where they could see the island on the horizon. They where skilled seafarers as they were able to cross the sea with their belongings, which included domestic animals and seeds.
The Maltese islands went through what can be classified a golden Neolithic Period, during which a number of grandiose temples that cannot be found anywhere else, were built. This period also left some exquisite and unique artefacts, exhibited in Malta's archaeological museums.
Around 1200 BC the Phoenicians started to expand their empire and occupied Malta. The name of the archipelago is said to derive from the Phoenician word "Maleth", meaning refuge or safe haven. In the 6th century Malta, along with all the western Mediterranean possessions of the Phoenicians fell under the hegemony of Carthage and a few centuries later it was conquered by the Romans as a result of the Punic Wars.
From the 6th century on the islands were successively ruled by the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Aragonese. In 1530 Malta was handed to the Knights Hospitallers, who became known as the Order of Malta. During the Order's rule, the archipelago knew a second golden age and was gifted some of the most emblematic architectural and artistic elements that can be visited today, including the capital, Valletta. 
In 1798 Napoleon conquered the islands putting an end to the centuries-old rule of the Order. Malta was successively ruled by the French and the British until it became independent in 1964.

 What to visit:
Birgu
Blue Grotto and the Mnajdra and Hagar Qim Temples
Gozo
Marsaxlokk
Mdina
Mosta
Tarxien Temples and Hypogeum
Valletta

 Moving around Malta














Local: Malta

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