Tuesday, April 7, 2015
For our next port of call we began a
course through the Mediterranean Sea to the Island of Malta and the capital
city of Valetta. Valetta contains
buildings from the 16th century onwards.
World War II left major scars on the city but currently it retains much
beauty in its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches. The city has a nickname Superbissima--Most
Proud.
Malta is the largest of the group of
Maltese islands and is less than 20 miles long.
Their need to trade and communicate (most speak a Semitic language) also
means that most natives speak good English and Italian, too. BUT they drive on the LEFT side of the
road.....and use the Euro for currency.
Malta has a long history and many
interesting items/areas to view. The megalithic stone temples at Gozo may be
the oldest freestanding structures on earth, older than the pyramids of Egypt. Trying to decide what to do with our day, we
chose to visit Mosta and Mdina.
Mdina is a medieval walled town
situated on a plateau and was Malta's capital before Valetta was built. Mdina is commonly called the "Silent
City" by natives and visitors. It
is still confined within the walls and has a very small population of a few
hundred. Mdina holds intriguing narrow
alleyways, "palace" homes, chapels, St. Paul's cathedral, museums,
monastery and many shops and cafes. At
the end of Mdina, we were treated to a spectacular view overlooking the valley
to Valletta and the sea beyond. We fell
in love with the charming little city and can't wait to go back for more
exploration.
Off we headed to Mosta, a city in
the center of the island known mostly for the Rotunda church that has a huge
dome. Santa Marija Assumpta Church is
the 4th largest unsupported dome in the world and the 3rd largest in Europe. The walls of the church are 30 feet thick to
support the dome and the dome is 122 feet in diameter. The church can hold 12,000 people!
Also nearby are catacombs and
ancient ruins dating back as far as 3000 BC.
As you can imagine, we ran out of time and didn't even touch the areas
of interest in Valletta.......next time!
Oh - did we mention the sail in and
sail out? This rivals Venice for any
experienced cruisers reading along with us.
It is beautiful and takes your breath away. We just didn't have Andrea Bocelli
singing!!!!!
Off to Messina, Sicily, the second
port of SEVEN port stops in a row. Hope
we survive.
