Malta - Mdina and the Crypts

Malta - Gozo & The Azure Window

OK - so my wonderful husband had his heart set on ending our first full day in Malta by taking the ferry 20 minutes accross the Mediterranean to the small island of Gozo. Gozo is know for pretty much 3 things. 1. Wonderful diving. 2. Neolithic Tempels and 3. The Azure window - a breath taking view of some rock formations in the middle of the sea. We hopped the ferry over - about a 20 minute ride - to drive for 30 minutes to the lookout area so we could see this wonder of nature. Little know fact that tourists don't get the memo on - if it rains a bunch in Gozo, the roads turn to mud. Muddy mud....DEEP MUDDY MUD and they close the roads to attractions of nature. Josh is not one to be deterred when he sets his heart on something. We parked the car and hoofed it through a muddy field to see if we could get pictures. I got some lovely shots of flowers, of Josh a good 20 yards away from me and of Josh watering natures glory. (though I didn't post that one!) As a side bar - our guide, Joan, told us we were lucky we didn't get shot wandering through someones fields. We got into the car and Josh decided to do a little more exploring, found another road and wandered to an amazing overlook with an excellent shot of The Azure Window and a breath taking sunset.

Malta - Marsaxlokk

Marsazxlokk is a little harbour village on the south-east coast with tons of charm. As you can see from the pictures, the sky had clouded over and yet this was still a really great place to stop. Our guide, Joan - an island native, recomended coming to this village if we wanted to have real Maltese food. We wandered around the harbour for a bit, as there were stalls set up selling food, lace and nick nacks. Josh tried and loved the nougat. (It is more of a combination brittle and candy log then what I think of as nougat - ie. milky way) We found a lovely table runner with a Maltese cross pattern and picked up some souviners for the kids before stopping for lunch. We went into a little hole-in-the-wall Mom and Pop establishment that our guide happened to be eating in. We didn't want anything too heavy because we planned to go out in the evening aand they had some really good choices. I am now in love with a traditional Maltese vegatable soup called ministra. I like to think of it as an "everything but the kitchen sink" soup. We are talking cabbage, pumpkin, squash, potatoes, carrots, barley...The list goes on and on! It really has everything in it and to top it off, it has a dollop of ricotta cheese. YUM!

In case you are wondering what was for dinner that evening......

Brusketta - dipped in a lovely balsamic vinagrette with lettuce and tomatoes

Timpana (baked pasta in a pastry case)

Rabbit in wine sauce

A light vanilla creme' for desert........

Malta - Blue Grotto

There were some specific sights that Josh and I wanted to see while we were in Malta. The coast lines are absolutely breath taking and one of the most picturesque sights on the coast is the Blue Grotto. This stunning natural sight is located on the western coast of Malta and is one of the biggest tourist attractions. There are beautiful views from the tops of limestone cliffs overlooking the actual caves. A short walk down a steep incline brings you to some small skifs that can ferry 8 passangers into the sea caves.
The water is a deep navy blue, almost like you took a glass of water and dropped blue food coloring into it. Where sunlight hits it, above stretches of white sand, the water color becomes an intense turquios blue. The visability is insane making the waters around Malta a diving hot spot. You can look through the water straight to the sea floor, as deep as 20 feet in some places. Inside the caves, you are surronded by a peaceful silence, stalactites and a true sense of wonder. When the waves cause the water level to drop, you can see different colors of rock below the water line. The most suprising color we glimpsed was a maroon/pink. All the caves are nature made even though one looks as though it must have been formed by man due to the unreal straight edges. Interesting fact - during World War II, when an air-raid alaarm was sounded the inhabitants took to their boats and rowed into these caves for saftey.

Malta - Blue Grotto

Malta - St John's CO-Cathedral

Josh, the kids, and I have seen quite a few churches and cathedral's here in Europe. they range from modest to ornate. Nothing - and I mean NOTHING can compare to St John's Co-Cathedral in Malta. So, a little PRE-info before we get to the real info.
In 1530 Emperor Charles V gave the Maltese Islands to the Knights of St John and the 250 years of their rule are the most illustrious in the history of the archipelago. The population welcomed the Order in hopes that they would enjoy greater protection from assult by the pirates. Attacked by the Turks in 1547 and 1551, the Kinghts were obliged to build fortifications such as Fort St Angelo and Fort St Elmo on the north coast of Malta. The Order built new churches and palaces as well as aqueducts, and art too underwent a revival.
Now on to the info......
In 1573 Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere authorized the construction of a conventual church of the Order if St John. It was completed in 1578 by Maltese architect Gerolamo Cassar. It was designed to look, on the outside, like a military fort and gives NO indication of the opulant interior. The clock tower accuraetly display the day of the week, the date of the day and the time of day.
The inside of the cathedral was embellished by successive Grand masters and further enrighed by the "Gioja" or gift, by every Knight was bound by statute to give on admission to the Order. The inside is rectangular in shape and there are eight small chapels - four on each side of the cathdral, one for each country represented by the Knights - Germany, Italy, France, Provence, Anglo-Bavarian, Castille Leon and Portugal, Aragon and Auvernge. The Knights seemed to try and out decorate each other. Painting, gilding, carving and monuments are everywhere.
To say the inside is opulant is a tiny understatement. The walls are carved and gilded limestone. The ceiling is painted in eight vingettes by
Mattia Preti. The figures painted into the corners at first appear 3-D as they are painted with corosponding shadows. One of the figures is believed to be a self portrait of Preti. It is depicted as a man holding up 5 fingers representing the 5 years it took for him to complete the ceiling.
Another amazing site in the cathedral is the huge silver gates in the Chapel of Our Lady of Philermos. They were installed in the eighteenth century as a gift to the church from the inheritance of two prominent knights, Bali Guglielmo de la Salle and Bali Francesco Rovero di Guarena. The knights often vied with one another to give the church gifts of ever lasting beauty and prestige. It is rumored that the Maltese painted the silver gates with black paint during World War II to fool Napoleon into thinking the gates were cast iron and worthless. While most of the silver in the cathedral was taken, the gates were left in peace and restored at a later date.
Below you will find a few pictures of the cathedral. I have included some pictures of a death monument - popular for people that contributed to the beutifaction of the church - so you can see the detail work. It s mind boggling to think of the detail work that is involved in these monuments.

** Information was provided by Malta and the islands Gozo and Comino by Miller Distributors Limited

Malta - St John's CO-Cathedral