Author Archives: Julie

Gozo Highlights

As well as doing a Segway tour on Gozo, we explored some of the island by bicycle and then had to return for a third day, this time travelling by bus, as we weren’t able to cover as much ground as we’d hoped by bike, hindered both by the exceptionally hilly terrain and the shockingly poor condition of the gears on our rental bicycles.

The small island of Gozo is a 25 minute ferry ride north of Malta

Cliffs and countryside

We spent much of our cycling day around the southern coast exploring the beautiful coastline and riding down narrow lanes between fields separated by dry stone walls. Most of the fields seemed to be grassy but I don’t remember seeing any livestock, although sheep would be the most logical inhabitants based on the terrain. We did spot a vineyard though and a few fields of vegetables.

The beautiful Ta’ Seguna cliffs on the southern coast of Gozo

We had a map of the island which showed a roughly coastal route and gave approximate times to either walk, run or cycle four separate sections. We encountered our first problem when approaching the section just to the west of the ferry port – it was a footpath. Hmm, I guess we have to detour by road then… Unfortunately the map only had the major roads marked so we had to rely on the GPS maps on Andrew’s camera to find our way. The second problem was that the suggested times would probably only apply if you were riding a decent bike on a flat, smooth road, taking no account of interest in surroundings or requirement to get off and walk up hills.

Clockwise from top left: Andrew walking a steep uphill section; Terraced fields in southern Gozo; Surf on the beach at Xlendi; the Maltese Wall Lizard has four subspecies endemic to the islands

Cittadella

Gozo’s capital city, Victoria, contains a walled town known as Cittadella, similar to Mdina in Malta but even smaller. Disappointingly for us, it’s currently undergoing extensive renovation works which mean you can’t fully explore the inner streets and walls, although from the areas where you can get onto the walls there are good views to all sides of the island.

The Cittadella towers over the centre of Gozo. Currently it looks better from a distance from where you can’t see all the scaffolding and piles of building materials.

Cannon on the Cittadella walls

Rabbit stew

We spent one night on Gozo and that evening, feeling a little saddlesore from a day’s biking, we went out for dinner determined to try the rabbit stew which the Maltese islands are famous for. We weren’t disappointed, with rich gravy and meat so tender it was falling off the bone it definitely lived up to the hype.

Delicious rabbit stew at Pulena in Marsalforn

Ggantija Temples

Similarly to the temples at Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, the Ggantija temples were built by the Maltese Temple Culture around 3600BC. They are the oldest known manmade stone structures on the planet predating Stonehenge by at least 500 years and the Egyptian pyramids by 1000 years.

The Ggantija Temples are situated on a hilltop commanding magnificent views over the south-east of the island

Prior to their excavation in the 1820s, local people believed that the ruins which lay under the earth mound were the remains of a tower built by an ancient race of giants, hence the name which comes from the Maltese word for giant. The complex consists of two temples side by side inside an outer wall and, like the other temples we’ve visited, there are some huge stones used in the construction. Having struggled to move our own weight up some of the surrounding hills, the mind boggles at how the prehistoric builders moved everything into place.

Altar arrangement in the South Temple

Us inside the inner room of the North Temple

Dwejra Bay

We were aiming to arrive at Dwejra Bay on our cycling day but, although we were within sight of the sea, we got lost amongst the narrow unsignposted back roads and eventually had to give up so that we wouldn’t be riding in the dark. When we finally arrived by bus, we ate our picnic lunch on the rocky beach overlooking the choppy sea around the Azure Window, a natural rock arch which protrudes from the cliff side.

The Azure Window is a natural rock arch

We were hypnotised by the waves crashing on the rocks below us and had to drag ourselves away to climb up the hill to visit Dwejra Tower. Here we watched a short video explaining the history and ecology of the area as well as getting some terrific views along the coast from the roof. The watchtower was built during the reign of Grand Master Lascaris in 1651, principally to safeguard ‘Fungus Rock’ a small islet in the bay which is home to a plant that was believed by the Knights of St John to have medicinal properties. It was interesting to finally have a look inside one of these coastal defence towers as we have seen a lot of them on our travels around the islands. It was surprisingly small inside due to the thickness of the walls and had only one room on each level.

Dwejra Tower flying the flag of the Order of St John. When the flag is raised the tower is open for visits.

Dwejra Bay was formed when the roof of a huge cave collapsed. Fungus Rock is the remnants of the wall which separated it from the sea

On the other side of the cliff which forms one side of the Azure Window is a different kind of geological phenomenon. A doline called the Inland Sea which, like the almost circular Dwejra Bay, was formed by the collapse of a cave roof millions of years ago. Nowadays it is a popular spot for sunbathing and swimming as well as the jumping off point for boat trips through the tunnel connecting it to the open sea, though in early December with a chill in the air and rough waters assaulting the cliffs none of those activities was in evidence.

The Azure Window and Inland Sea (centre right) from the top of Dwejra Tower

We’re really glad we didn’t miss out on a visit to Dwejra Bay, it was a beautiful end to our explorations and different to anything we’d seen on Malta itself.

Maltese Architecture

Building materials

There aren’t any forests on Malta and wood is in short supply so there isn’t any traditional wooden architecture such as we’ve seen in Latvia, Russia and Japan. Fortunately for the Maltese much of the island is composed of a soft limestone which is easy to quarry and is used to build everything from dry stone walls and houses to churches and fortifications. Its soft honey colour is very easy on the eye and gives a uniform, cohesive look to any town viewed from a distance.

Valleta’s limestone architecture seen from across the Grand Harbour

There isn’t much in the way of modern architecture here (outside the resort areas anyway), and certainly no skyscrapers, but at the entrance to Valletta a new Parliament building is nearing completion. Designed by the high profile architect Renzo Piano (one of his other recent projects is The Shard in London) it has caused controversy and apparently UNESCO are considering whether Valletta’s World Heritage status should be revoked because of it. I hope it doesn’t come to that, it is definitely modern but use of the traditional limestone means that it blends in nicely. We like it. We also like that it’s been nicknamed the ‘Cheese Grater’.

The ‘Cheese Grater’, Malta’s new parliament building

Fortifications

It’s not only the buildings here that are built from the local limestone but also the island’s many fortifications – city walls, coastal watchtowers and forts. In the rather clunkily named but nevertheless fascinating Fortifications Interpretation Centre we learnt that military engineers would dig out the limestone to create a defensive ditch surrounding the city and use the blocks to build up the walls.

Fortifications at the land-side of Senglea, one of the Three Cities

Balconies

One of the most obvious features of Maltese houses are the balconies. They’re usually wooden, closed in and painted in bright colours. Although it’s not clear exactly what their origins are, it’s thought that they were influenced by the Arabic muxarabija balconies, possibly arriving via Spain. They gained popularity in the 18th century and were sometimes added to the house later. Because of the high price of timber they became something of a status symbol amongst the country’s elite, however when the British took over in the 19th century timber became more affordable making balconies available to those of lower means.

Balconies along Republic Street in Valletta

Front doors

The Maltese do an interesting line in what we might call door furniture. There are extravagant door knockers, plaques of saints next to front doors and, as every house has its own name, a wide variety of name plaques in different designs and styles. It’s been fun to spot different ones as we walk the streets.

Shops

Of course there are shopping malls with the usual chain stores, but many of the shopfronts in Malta’s towns seem to hark back to an earlier time with small windows and hand-painted signs making them look a bit retro. They also have old fashioned opening times with pretty much all small businesses closing for lunch at 12pm and (perhaps) reopening at 4pm for 2-3 hours. Maybe this makes more sense in August when the midday temperature averages 32°C but in late autumn there doesn’t appear to be a clear explanation and at first it was confusing to us.

Valletta shopfront

Religious bits and bobs

Malta is predominantly Catholic (over 90%) and, as well as the saint plaques beside front doors, there are frequent roadside shrines and street corner niches containing saints, plus lots of churches. The larger churches often follow a similar design with two bell towers flanking the entrance and a dome over the nave.

St Lawrence Church in Vittoriosa

Two street corner niches and a roadside shrine

British influence

Malta was a British colony for 164 years until it gained its independence in 1964. There are a few telltale signs that make us feel a bit nostalgic and homesick, most obviously the red postboxes and phone booths.

Red phone booths are rare in the UK now, but everywhere in Malta

Mdina & Rabat, Malta

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Mdina is the ancient capital of Malta, it’s believed that there has been a settlement here for over 2000 years and it easily predates the Knights of St John who landed in 1530 and promptly moved the capital to Vittoriosa, and then to Valletta in 1571. Centrally located atop a hill it looks very much like you would expect an impregnable fortress to look with thick stone walls and a deep moat, although nowadays the moat is a green park.

The city is entered through the impressive Mdina Gate

The defensive walls evolved over hundreds of years under different ruling groups. The final changes were made during the Arab occupation of AD870-1250 and the name derives from the Arabic word for city, ‘medina’. To call it a city is perhaps a little misleading, I was surprised by how tiny the area inside the walls is. The narrow streets seem almost labyrinthine but it’s difficult to get lost as before long you inevitably end up at an outer wall or the central street. Still it’s very picturesque and we enjoyed doing a little exploring.

A typical Mdina street

Clockwise from left: there are several churches, convents and monasteries inside the walls along with numerous statues of saints on street corners; nearly every house has a small icon by the door, a feature common across the island; Mdina street sign; at night the streets are lit by lanterns

From the north-eastern walls you can see all the way to the coast and to Valletta, and I’m sure that the corner towers command views over pretty much the whole island which I suppose was the idea for defensive purposes.

View to the Mediterranean Sea from Mdina’s walls

The Bishop of Malta’s palace is situated within Mdina and his seat is the Cathedral here. It’s nowhere near as impressive as St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta but in its own way it’s quite pretty and much more peaceful than that busier church.

Mdina Cathedral makes up one side of St Paul’s Square

Cathedral interior (clockwise from top left): frescoes on the walls and ceiling; the cathedral has some beautiful stained glass windows; the floor consists of inlaid marble gravestones; I really liked the paintings inside the dome

Just outside Mdina’s walls is the town of Rabat, also named from the Arabic it means suburbs. There are a few museums here too, we chose to visit the complex beside and underneath St Paul’s Church – St Paul’s Grotto, World War II Shelters, Catacombs and the Wignacourt Museum which are all on one combined ticket. Like many churches on the island, this one is dedicated to St Paul who was shipwrecked on Malta for three months on his way to Rome in AD60. The first stop downstairs from the ticket desk, and directly underneath the church, is the grotto where St Paul is said to have lived and preached during his time here, nowadays it’s a chapel.

Andrew in St Paul’s Grotto

Deeper underground is the entrance to the bomb shelters which were built for the town’s inhabitants during WWII. They seemed to go on forever, there are fifty small rooms directly off the main corridors. However they are now all empty apart from a few floor tiles and there wasn’t much in the way of explanatory notices so we had to use our imaginations to guess what it might have been like to shelter down there. It’s safe to say that the residents spent a lot of time down here as there were 3340 air raid alerts between 1940-44 and during the peak months in the first half of 1942 there were an average of eight or nine alerts every day!

Me in the corridor of the World War II bomb shelters underneath St Paul’s Church

Leading off from the bomb shelters are two sections of catacombs. These pre-date the church and are part of what would have been a large cemetery complex going back to Roman times when it was forbidden to have burials inside the city walls. They are also, thankfully, empty. The structure was quite distinct from the bomb shelters, we found them pretty cramped with narrow, twisting passages.

St Paul’s Catacombs

We ended our visit with a quick look around the Wignacourt Museum. It’s pretty modern and nicely set up but the contents consisted mostly of old oil paintings and local religious memorabilia which weren’t of much interest to us. The highlight was a 1937 Austin Six Limousine in mint condition which used to belong to the Bishop of Malta. It seemed to have been assembled in the exhibition room as it was too big to fit through either the door or the window.

Austin Six Limousine in the Wignacourt Museum

Next door to the museum is a bakery and it would have been rude not to buy a traditional Maltese cake. We chose one that in English is called “honey ring”, it’s a pastry case filled not with honey but a spicy black treacle mixture which tasted like a very dense gingerbread. We asked the girl in the shop how to say its name in Maltese, “Qaghaq tal-ghasel”, she explained that the ‘gh’ is silent, but didn’t look too impressed by our pronunciation efforts… Oh well, it tasted good however you say it.

Our Qaghaq tal-ghasel

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Malta

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The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum feels like a bit of an exclusive place to visit. Only ten people an hour are admitted, you need to book in advance and tickets are pricy at €30 (£24) each. Frankly, we wondered whether it would be worth it, but we needn’t have worried as it was fascinating. So, first things first, what is a hypogeum? Pretty simple really, it’s a fancy word for an underground burial chamber. In this case the structure is hewn from the solid limestone rock which makes up much of Malta’s geology.

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum – it doesn’t look like much from the outside

As instructed, we arrived 15 minutes before our tour time whereupon I got a bit of a fright as the man on the desk looked at my booking confirmation and said “11am, yes, that’s for tomorrow!” Of course I’d checked it multiple times before and was just about to argue when I saw that he was pulling my leg. Of course, Andrew thought this was hilarious…

As the group gathered at the entrance, our bags and cameras were put into a locker and each person was given an audio guide. First we were ushered into a small exhibition room and then shown a short film about the history of the hypogeum. It was built between 3600BC and 2400BC and consists of three levels. The level closest to the surface is the oldest and sustained some damage when the hypogeum was rediscovered in 1902 by a stonemason laying foundations for new houses.

Looking down at the top level of the Hypogeum [photo credit: Heritage Malta]

As we descended through the top level, the audio guide explained that the builders who rediscovered the structure didn’t report it right away which meant that quite a bit of damage occurred here and anything that might have survived of surface features was completely lost. Unfortunately the first man to oversee the excavations then died unexpectedly while out of the country and his four years of dig notes have never been found.

The main chamber on the middle level of the Hypogeum [photo credit: Heritage Malta]

It was interesting to see how the chambers had been carved out from the stone often using natural fault lines to dictate where walls would be. The finish in some of the chambers imitates the look of above ground temples built in Malta at the same time, like the ones we visited at Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. At the farthest extent of the tour walkway was the chamber which archaeologists have called the Holy of Holies where this is most apparent. Indeed the corbelled design of the carved roof can clearly be seen here and added weight to theory that the above ground temples had roofs constructed using this method.

Holy of Holies [photo credit: Heritage Malta]

Also in the middle level, in the Oracle Chamber, some of the roof paintings have survived. Unfortunately the symbolism of the swirling pattern hasn’t come down to us, but archaeologists speculate that the red ochre colour used was because of its similarity to blood and may represent life. In the same room, the audioguide brought our attention to doorways raised above the level of the floor and explained that when the Hypogeum was in use this was likely because the floor would have been several centimetres deep in a mix of soil and skeletal remains – a slightly gruesome thought.

Roof paintings in the Oracle Chamber [photo credit: Heritage Malta]

As well as the structure itself, archaeologists unearthed human bone fragments as well as a number of other artefacts, including personal ornaments and various types of figurines. It is thought that around 7000 people were buried there over the course of 1000 years which didn’t sound like many to me (only seven per year) but no other explanation was given so perhaps it isn’t so remarkable. The most famous of the statues found here is the ‘Sleeping Lady’ which we later saw in the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.

The ‘Sleeping Lady’ was much smaller than we expected, only about 10cm from head to toe

Afterwards it was very clear to us why there are all the restrictions on entry – only ten people per tour, no bags or photos inside, etc. Quite apart from the conservation concerns (erosion from increased carbon dioxide levels from more people, photography flashes damaging wall paintings), the place is pretty small and even with a group of ten there was a certain amount of shuffling around at each stage so that everyone got a look at the interesting elements in each chamber, and photography would have slowed the tour down even more.

It is humbling to think about the people who constructed the Hypogeum 5000 years ago. They wouldn’t have had metal tools, just flints and bone and would have been shrouded in darkness – obviously no electric lights in those days and no soot marks have been found so no fixed torches either. The audio guide really added to the experience too, it was well put together with atmospheric background music composed for it by Renzo Spiteri and actually recorded inside the Hypogeum. The vision and dedication which must have been passed down from generation to generation in its building is mind blowing.

St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta

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Like many of Europe’s medieval cities, Malta’s capital Valletta is fairly compact and surrounded by walls. Unlike most of the other cities which retain their walls e.g. York, Bruges, Tallinn, here the walls are not surrounded by modern city, because on three sides Valletta’s walls are bounded by the sea.

Valletta’s southern walls meet the sea

The Knights Hospitaller, or Order of St John, was formed in the 11th century as a Christian military order. In 1530 they established themselves on Malta and ruled the island nation for 268 years until it was taken by Napoleon. In the centre of their fortified capital the Knights built St John’s Co-Cathedral, dedicated to the patron saint of their order. It is called Co-Cathedral as it has equal status on the island with St Paul’s Cathedral in the inland fortified city of Mdina, the seat of the Bishop of Malta, although this wasn’t the case until the 1820s.

The exterior of St John’s Co-Cathedral is rather plain and currently undergoing restoration

Inside, the cathedral is pretty much the exact opposite of its austere exterior and it seems that every surface is covered with some form of decoration. Whether painted, gilded, carved or inlaid it’s quite an assault on the eyes. The nave is barrel vaulted and each of the six ceiling bays contains three scenes from the life of St John painted by Mattia Preti, unusually using oil based paints directly on the stone.

The spectacular nave with its painted ceiling

The High Altar is even more extravagant than the rest of the interior adorned with various gifts from Grand Masters and high-ranking knights who seem to have been trying to outdo each other by contributing rare marbles and exquisite carvings. The huge Sanctuary lamp hanging at the front of the space is made of solid silver!

The High Altar is the centrepiece of the interior

Along each side of the nave are eight equally elaborately decorated chapels. The Knights were gathered from all across Europe and each of these chapels is dedicated to one of the ‘langues’ or places of origin. It was interesting to try to spot the details which tied the chapels back to the original country, for example, the double headed eagle emblem in the German chapel, or the fleur-de-lys in the French one.

Chapel of Aragon; we weren’t sure exactly where Aragon was and were interested to find that it is an autonomous community in northern Spain

Each chapel has its own altar along with magnificent marble tombs of the langue’s distinguished knights.

Chapel details (clockwise from top left): tomb in the French Chapel; even the ‘plain’ walls are covered with gilded carvings; altar in the Italian Chapel; Spanish Chapel altarpiece

Of all the Cathedral’s magnificence, for us the highlight was definitely the floor. It’s completely made up of gravestones, and not just normal grey gravestones with carved inscriptions, these are brightly coloured pictures often containing crests, weaponry and skeletons as well as an inscription, all made up of inlaid marble in an amazing variety of colours.

Inlaid marble gravestones cover the floor of St John’s Co-Cathedral

The audio guide route ends with the cathedral’s museum. In the first room of which, the Oratory, are two paintings by Caravaggio. Caravaggio seems to have been quite a troubled figure, he was quite famous in Rome during his lifetime but was forced to flee after killing a man in a brawl. Arriving in Malta he became a knight and carried out several commissions on the island before landing in prison again, this time for injuring a fellow knight in a fight. The two works in the Oratory are dramatic and show his innovative use of light to illuminate the central figures while leaving much of the scene in darkness.

‘The Beheading of St John the Baptist’ by Caravaggio [photo credit: St John’s Co-Cathedral]

The rest of the museum is devoted to the set of enormous 17th century Flemish tapestries which are hung in the nave for special occasions (e.g. when the Pope visited), several beautiful illuminated choral books, various items of ecclesiastical clothing and a few paintings.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the cathedral and trying to take in all of the artwork and spot details (like an elephant on one of the gravestones). In contrast, we saw several groups from the cruise ships which dock in Malta being led in by their guide, doing a quick circuit around the nave and exiting through the gift shop. It seems a shame that they miss out on so much of this showcase of the Knights’ splendour.

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures