Portal:Malta

The Malta Portal

Flag of Malta	Coat of Arms of Malta

Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a small island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands (Malta, Gozo (Għawdex) Comino (Kemmuna) Filfla, Cominotto (Kemmunett) Manoel, Selmunett (St.Paul's Islands)) in the Mediterranean Sea. A country of Southern Europe, Malta lies south of Sicily, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The country's official languages are Maltese and English. Roman Catholicism is the most practised religion. The islands constituting the Maltese nation have been ruled by various powers and fought over by many states for centuries. Malta has been a member state of the European Union (EU) since 2004 and it is currently the smallest EU country both in population and in area.

More about Malta...

Selected Article

The inside of the Cathedral

St. John's Co-Cathedral, located in Valletta, Malta, was built by the Knights of Malta between 1573 and 1578 having been commissioned in 1572 by Grand Master Jean de la Cassière as the conventual church of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St John, known as the Knights of Malta. The Church was designed by the Maltese military architect Gerolamo Cassar who has designed several of the more prominent buildings in Valletta. The severe exterior of the Cathedral, built immediately after the ending of the Great Siege of 1565, is reminiscent of a military fort.The inside is in sharp contrast to the facade as the extremely ornate interior decorated in the height of the Baroque period. The inside was largely decorated by Mattia Preti, the Calabrian artist and Knight. Preti designed the intricate carved stone walls and painted the vaulted ceiling and side altars with scenes from the life of St John. Noteworthy is the fact that the carving was all undertaken in-place (in-stu) rather than being carved independently and then attached to the walls (stucco). The Maltese limestone from which the Cathedral is built lends itself particularly well to such intricate carving.

Near the main entrance one finds the monument of Grandmaster Fra Marc'Antonio Zondadari from Siena. He was the nephew of Pope Alexander VII. (more...)

Selected Locality

Senglea is a fortified city in the east of Malta, mainly in the Grand Harbour area. It is one of the Three Cities, with the other two being Cospicua and Vittoriosa. The city of Senglea is also called Citta Invicta, because it managed to resist the Ottoman invasion at the Great Siege of 1565. The proper name is Senglea since the grandmaster who built it Claude De La Sengle, gave this city a part of his name. The island was in fact joined by a landbridge to Cospicua during the time of the Knights of St. John and as a result, it became peninsular in shape. During the time of the Knights of St. John, Senglea was also used as a hunting area, and was in fact known as L'Isola di San Giuliano, but later it was developed and made inhabitable by the Grand Master, Claude de la Sengle who built fortifications following a Turkish invasion in 1551. The locality eventually became known as Senglea but retained its old name Isla. (more...)

Selected Picture

Photo credit: Philip Serracino Inglott

The Sopu Tower is situated at the edge of a cliff between San Blas Bay and Dahlet Qorrot Bay. It was built in 1667 by Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner to guard this part of Gozo from the warships of the Turks who at that time sailed between Gozo and Sicily. The tower is unique in its kind in Gozo. It resisted the incursions of the French troops on 10th June 1798, who landed on this part to capture Gozo.

Did you know

...that Malta was the most heavily bombed place on earth, and that more bombs fell on Malta than on the English industrial town of Coventry?

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Malta topics

History	Prehistory \| Phoenicians and Carthaginians \| Roman \| Arab rule \| Norman and Sicilian rule \| Hospitaller rule \| Great Siege \| French occupation \| British protectorate \| British colony \| Siege of Malta (World War II) \| George Cross Award \| Independence \| EU Membership
Geography	Caves of Malta \| Fortifications of Malta \| Maps of Malta \| Islands of Malta \| List of cities in Malta
Politics	Constitution of Malta \| President of Malta \| House of Representatives of Malta \| Political parties \| Foreign relations \| Elections \| Local Councils of Malta \| Armed Forces of Malta
Economy	Maltese Lira (Coins of the Maltese lira) \| Euro (Maltese Euro Coins ) \| Companies \| Central Bank of Malta \| Retailing in Malta \| Trade unions in Malta
Demographics	Languages (Maltese, English) \| Catholic Church (Archbishop of Malta)
Culture	Music \| Cuisine \| Theatres in Malta \| Maltese literature
Other	Communications\| Transportation \| Universities \| Flag \| Coat of Arms of Malta \| Flags and symbols of Malta \| Holidays \| List of Maltese people \| Malta exiles