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If Malta isn’t on your travel list, get it on there.
When my high school bestie suggested we go there to celebrate our 40th birthdays, I’d heard of it but didn’t know much about it, including where it even was on the map. Now, having done seven hours’ worth of walking tours — listen, I’m a journalist, I love a learning-based activity — I feel like I could confidently lead one.
Malta is a tiny island nation in the Mediterranean located between Sicily — about 80-90 km south depending which Maltese island you’re on — and North Africa. It has a total population of roughly 570,000, so smaller than Winnipeg.
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Not only is it absolutely beautiful, with its blue ocean vistas and limestone buildings, it has a truly fascinating history. I learned about its rich iconography, such as the eight-point Maltese cross, a symbol of the Knights of Malta which has been in existence since the 11th century (!). Or the ornate brass knockers that adorn the brightly painted doors and are removed to alert the community that someone has died.
An example of the Maltese door knocker with the eight-point cross. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
Or the Eyes of Osiris painted on fishing boats to ward off evil and ensure safe passage. Or the bright red mailboxes and phone booths, vestiges of Malta’s life as a British colony. The population is 98 per cent Roman Catholic, so you will also see a lot of religious iconography.
The eye of Osiris on a boat. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
If it seems like there’s a lot going on influence-wise, you’re not wrong. Nowhere does this show up more than in the Maltese language itself. Malti is the only official Semitic language in the European Union, and it is the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet — so think Arabic base with heavy Italian and Sicilian influences. English is the other official language in Malta.
Thanks to my excellent guides, I also learned that Malta was nicknamed the Nurse of the Mediterranean in the First World War because of her ability to care for some 100,000 injured soldiers. Caregiving is deeply embedded into Malta’s identity; the Knights of Malta’s official name is the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta and it began as a hospital for pilgrims. Now, it runs medical and humanitarian projects in 130 countries.
And I learned that the mermen who compose the Tritons’ Fountain, located outside of the gates to the capital of Valletta, served as the inspiration for the characters in Avatar. And when you see it, no kidding, James Cameron was just cutting and pasting faces.
The Tritons’ Fountain. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
I’m going to include a few other little recommendations, just in case you decide to go (which you should!).
Stay: We stayed in the capital, Valletta, and felt like we were in the action but still able to sleep (Malta has pretty strict noise ordinances). Everything we wanted to see and do was walkable. The bus from the airport is €3 and could not be easier.
Eat: A couple of traditional Maltese items for your consideration: pastizzi, which are flaky, savoury pastries filled with ricotta or peas, and ftira, a flatbread sandwich stuffed with tomato paste, olive oil, tuna, capers, olives and onions. Fun fact: ftira is a UNESCO-designated sandwich owing to its cultural significance to the region, so you can’t get much more Maltese than that. Also, using tomato paste instead of a slippery, watery tomato is absolutely genius and I will be replicating this at home — and I thought I didn’t like olives.
Pastizzi (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
Malta also makes very good wine, as well as a peppery sheep’s cheese you’ll find sprinkled on everything.
See: Caravaggio, the Italian painter known for both his use of chiaroscuro (the vivid contrast between light and dark) and being a notorious criminal (he got into a lot of violent street scraps and even murdered a man), has a significant painting at the St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. (I cannot stress to you enough how much the gilded, marbled inside of this place does not match its modest outside).
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist has the distinction of being the only signed Caravaggio, a discovery that wasn’t made until the 1950s when the painting underwent restoration work. Caravaggio was also kicked out of the Knights of Malta for being a “foul and rotten member” in a ceremony that took place in front of this very masterwork.
A streetscape in Valletta. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
Do: Definitely take advantage of the many walking tours. One of ours included a trip through the Grand Harbour on a motorized gondola, which I think you can just book on its own.
Gondola boat tour in the Grand Harbour. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
Valletta has many rooftop patios and cool bars that spill out onto the limestone steps. And there’s lots of opportunities to stumble upon live music, too.
Enjoying the view in Mdina. (Jen Zoratti / Free Press)
And hop on a bus and go see Mdina, an ancient, fortified city that has been inhabited since at least 8th century BC when the Phoenicians established a colony there. (I’m sure there’s a walking tour you can take there, too). Mdina was used as a location in the first season of Game of Thrones.
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