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Valletta
The capital of Malta is inextricably linked to the history
of the military and charitable Order of St John of Jerusalem. It was
ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians,
Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John.
Valletta’s 320 monuments, all within an area of 55 ha, make it one
of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.
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Grand Harbour
Geographic location has an emphatic habit of influencing the
course of history. The story of Malta is an important case in point.
Sited practically in the centre of the Mediterranean, its important
strategic position was such that none of the maritime powers then
vying for the control of this sea could have afforded to ignore it.
The island's position was ideal, for apart from commanding the
narrow waters between the two great basins of the Mediterranean, it
also possessed excellent natural harbours, secure havens for battle
fleets. It was, above all, the presence of the Grand Harbour that
was to prove so instrumental in attracting foreign occupation. And
once occupied, the need to secure this anchorage from attack was to
dictate the scope and form of the island's defenses. Thus, over the
centuries, the harbour area has witnessed the building of great
works of fortification designed by engineers from most of the major
military power: Spanish, Italian, French and British, the result of
which is one of the finest collections of military architecture in
the world. In the words of Prof. Quentin Hughes, "a monumental
heritage... for sheer concentration and majesty quite unmatched".
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Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
The Hypogeum is an enormous subterranean structure excavated
c. 2500 B.C., using cyclopean rigging to lift huge blocks of
coralline limestone. Perhaps originally a sanctuary, it became a
necropolis in prehistoric times.
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Megalithic Temples of Malta (Malta & Gozo Island)
Seven megalithic temples are found on the islands of Malta and Gozo,
each the result of an individual development. The two temples of
Ggantija on the island of Gozo are notable for their gigantic Bronze
Age structures. On the island of Malta, the temples of Hagar Qin,
Mnajdra and Tarxien are unique architectural masterpieces, given the
limited resources available to their builders. The Ta'Hagrat and
Skorba complexes show how the tradition of temple-building was
handed down in Malta.
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Catacombs
The Paleochristian heritage of the Maltese Islands rates as
the fourth most important cluster of such monuments in the
Mediterranean Region following those of the Italy, Israel and of the
Maghreb. The most prominent feature of Malta's Paleochristian
archaeology consists of an extensive concentration of subterranean
burial grounds (OI catacombs) located under the modern town of Rabat
and the surrounding rural districts.
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North West/West
Coastal Cliffs
The coastal cliffs of the Maltese Islands are characterised by
vertical or near-vertical rock faces rising from the sea to heights
of up to 70-130m above mean sea level and continuing below it down
to depths of 80m in places. Steep slopes which are often terraced
and which have been under cultivation for hundreds of years cap
parts of these cliffs whereas spectacular boulder screes (known
locally as rdum) dominate others.
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Dwejra (Gozo Island)
The Qawra/Dwejra site combines interesting geology, both on land and
under the sea, rich diverse wildlife and habitats, dramatic
seascapes dominated by a rocky shoreline, cultural elements spanning
from the 3rd century BC to the 19th century AD and a general
wilderness feel. Both the inland sea (Qawra) and Dwejra Bay are
excellent examples of large-scale circular subsidence structures and
associated infill sediments with clear fossil beds. In fact, on
western Gozo one finds an impressive number of solution subsidence
structures in a relatively small area. These geological formations
were formed as underground caverns through a dissolution process
which could only have taken place on land. During the Miocene,
seafloor collapse created 12 initial structures whereas many others
originated from Quaternary subaerial collapse during the
Pleistocene, when the emergence of the Maltese Islands reactivated
the process. These various structures, some of which are completely
submerged, clearly explain the geological history of the Pelagian
Block (Central Mediterranean).
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Cittadella (Gozo Island)
The Cittadella is in the centre of Gozo, Malta's sister
island. The small fortified town is situated on a promontory sited
over the town of Victoria (also known as Rabat). This vantage point
was obviously chosen because it was a naturally fortified hill which
dominated the surrounding countryside and provided visual control of
the coastal areas. The geological and geomorphological
characteristics were ideal to support ancient settlements and
provide a foundation for town development. The Cittadella was
referred to as Gaulcouis Civitas (possible after the Roman
settlement) before the arrival of the Knights of the Order of St.
John.
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Mdina
Mdina is situated high above terraced fields thus dominating
the rural skyline. It attracts large amounts of visitors mostly
foreigners (about 80,000 each year). Mdina contributes greatly to
the glorious heritage of the Maltese Islands with its original
setting of Baroque palaces and churches and so it deserves every
degree of protection possible to ensure its survival for the benefit
of both future generations and national pride. Mdina is only one of
the surviving place names. The city has been renamed according to
the various periods in local history. Other names were Melita (Roman
occupation), Medina (Arabic occupation), Citta Notabile (Knights of
St. John) and Citta Vecchia (after Valletta was built). This city
was the home town of the Maltese nobility before the 1565 Siege as
well as the capital city of the Islands. Considerable building took
place during the reign of Grand Master Vilhena. The urban form it
was built upon is the one still standing to the present day. Today
it is also referred as the Silent City since it inspires
tranquillity at any time of the day or night.
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Victoria Lines
& The Great Fault
The Great Fault is a natural geographical barrier which
spans across the whole width of Malta north of Mdina, and
practically divides the island in two parts. Its use for defensive
purposes can be traced way back to prehistoric times but it was the
Knights, in 1722, who were the first to systematically utilize the
natural defensive qualities of this geographical feature for
military purposes with the building of a number of permanent masonry
infantry entrenchments erected along various sections of the
position in order to enable the islanders to resist an enemy
invasion in the northern part of the island.
The militarization of the whole span of the great Fault was a
process which was undertaken during the second half of the l9th
century by the British military in an attempt to seal off the
northern approaches to the fortified Grand Harbour area with its
important naval facilities. The North West Front known as the
defensive front was initiated in 1875 with the construction of a
number of strategically sited forts and batteries designed to
stiffen the length of the natural escarpment
In 1897, the whole fortified trace, by then nearing completion, was
named the Victoria Lines in order to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee
of Queen Victoria.
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