Malta has long been a Mediterranean island nation of mythic proportions. Inhabited by the likes of temple building giants, Odysseus, and crusading knights, the reputation is clearly deserved. The country’s more recent experience still manages to rival this star-studded past, as the city’s capital of Valletta sheltered Churchill and Eisenhower as they planned operations which ultimately led to the defeat of the Axis powers during World War II. The Lascaris War Rooms, site of these secret meetings, are open to visitors.
The Maltese cross, symbol of the Knights of St John, long-time rulers of the island from the middle ages until the 19th century.
During the unraveling of the events of World War II, Malta earned the unlucky title of most-bombed population, with the bulk of the country’s homes leveled. In the spirit of their British protectorate?s fortunate St. Paul’s, however, many Maltese churches went unscathed. Rumor tells of a church full of Catholic worshippers which was attacked one Sunday during mass; the bomb broke through the church’s domed ceiling, skidded down the center aisle, and came to a stop just before the altar. The bomb never detonated and no one was even scratched. One of Malta’s most dignified churches, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, also houses a museum featuring some of Carvaggio’s greatest works, as well as tapestries of the famed Mattia Preti.
