But like most, I had a simple query, “where in the world is Malta?”.
Because this island country has had a chequred past, it is only fair that I bore you with a history/geography lesson. Apparently at one point in time it was connected by land with Sicily (it is only about 90kms south of Sicily). There is evidence of pre-historic habitation here during the period 3600-2500BC when a number of neolithic temples were built. The Phoenicians occupied Malta between 800-220 BC and St. Paul was shipwrecked here (in AD 60). The islands were under Arab control during the 9th-11th centuries. Quite a melange!
The Knights of St. John were given this Island by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V when they were defeated by the Ottomans at Rhodes in 1522/3. The most famous episode of history at Malta was during 1565 when 'the great siege of Malta' took place. The Ottomans tried to oust the Knights from Malta and had the island surrounded for months. The Knights, despite being grossly outnumbered, successfully weathered, and repelled, the siege. It was after the siege that the Grandmaster de Valette decided to build a new city on the location of what is now Valletta (Malta’s capital).
In 1798, the Knights were finally expelled from Malta by the French who ruled for two years (misrule is the word, as apparently they looted and desecrated). In 1800, with the help of the British, the Maltese overthrew the French and Malta became a British possession.
Malta was used as a military hospital during WWI (and was referred to as the 'nurse of the Mediterranean'). During WWII, in 1942, Malta was subjected to 154 days of continuous bombing by the Axis Powers (when apparently over 6700 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the Island). Malta successfully weathered the attacks and this is supposed to be one of the important turning points of WWII.
In 1964, Malta got independence from the British and in 1974, it became a republic though British influence is still visible in the Island (haberdashery stores et al).
Ok, that’s all for today.
