Malta has a rich history spanning 7,000 years. What sets it apart, is the fact that so much of this heritage is still visible, in the form of prehistoric tem medieval towns, baroque churches and much more. Some of its old towns, like Mdina and Valletta, take you back through the ages. Their buildings and fortifications have not changed much since the days they were built, but they are still in daily use. That makes visiting them such a pleasant experience. greece rhodes rhodos kos

The oldest structure built by man are the Ggantija Temples in Gozo. Another 6 megalithic temples were built in Malta, all of them Unesco World Heritage Sites. An amazing underground necropolis, the Hypogeum is another World Heritage Site that can be found on the islands; the capital Valletta is a World Heritage City. rhodes rhodos greece
The first known people to settle in Malta were the Phoenicians, who reached these shores on their trading ventures in the 9th century BC. They were followed by the Carthaginians, who made way for the Romans, who were to rule over the island for 7 centuries until the 3rd century AD. greek rhodes kos

Arabs from North Africa occupied the islands from the 9th century to the 13th century. Their influence can be seen quite easily: town names likes Mdina and Rabat, Zebbug and Mgarr. Many words in Maltese are similar to their Arabic counterpart: dar (house), bir (source). greece rhodes rhodos
Norman rulers left their distinctive architecture in Mdina and other places. In 1530, Emperor Charles V gave the islands in loan to the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. rhodes rhodos kos

The would stay until 1798, and leave an indelible mark on the islands in the form of splendid baroque architecture, notably in Valletta.
After the Knights' defeat by French troups, Malta was ruled by Napoleon for two years, but the French were soon driven out by the English. They were to be the last foreign rulers until independence in 1964.
This is of course just one way of looking at Malta's history. rhodes kosTwo other important examples of cultural development are religion and the economy.rhodos



Malta today

Malta is a small and densely populated island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands in the Mediterranean Sea. A country of Southern Europe, Malta lies south of Sicily, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya.
The Maltese Islands are a group of small, barren rocks, jutting out of the middle of the dark blue Mediterranean Sea. In these conditions, they would have been relegated to the footnotes of history. Yet, ever since the archipelago was first colonised thousands of years ago, they have never been far from the centre of events and have often played a crucial role in the making of history. Their strategic situation in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea makes up for all the lack of resources that nature endowed the rest of the globe. greece

Malta, the largest island, and her sister islands of Gozo, Comino, Filfla and other very small islands, are strategically placed in the narrow channel joining the eastern and the western basins of the Mediterranean, or if you like, a bridge between Southern Europe and North Africa, or between Western Europe and the Middle East. This had landed the Maltese Islands right in the middle of the most important historic events: the wars between Rome and Carthage, the rise of Islam, the Crusades, the wars between Christians and Moslems, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the fight for democracy against Fascism and Nazism, the Cold War, the rise of a United Europe and the challenges of the Third Millennium. greek rhodos kos rhodes greece rhodes

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