France and Malta, Winter 2018

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 Our last day in Malta, we had just one activity, a visit to Fort Rinella on the coast, the home of the world’s largest gun.   There was a small museum there also, but the gun is the featured attraction, and what a gun it is. We were met by a man in a uniform: When asked what kind of uniform it is, he waffled.   It seems it’s sort of created in the style of the uniforms used in the late 1800s which is when the fort and the gun were built by the British.   He led us across a moat/ditch and into the fort: We visited the gun, called the Armstrong 100-ton gun, made in 1878:   It’s a muzzle-loader and just the barrel weighs 100 tons.   It uses 204 kg. (450 lbs.) of black powder and a shell of 907 kg. (2000 lbs.), which it could hurl 6400 meters (4 miles) with surprising accuracy due to the rifling of the barrel.   There’s loads of information available on the internet, and I bought a book...

Monday, March 12, 2018 We began the day with a drive to the hill city of Mdina, the name being the same as the Arabic Medina.   The city was founded by the Romans as Melita, when Malta was conquered by the Arabs, it was renamed Medina, and is now Mdina.   It is in a strategic location: The Arabs build the staunch fortifications and a giant ditch.   Here’s the gate to the city with the entrance being over the ditch:   Ultimately the city was taken by the Knights, but the name stayed.   The city was, for a long time, the most prominent city on Malta, and thus the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul s here: The city is beautiful and very old; at its height during the reign of the Knights, a quarter of the residents were Jews, and the location of the silk market is marked: The British, not needing the walls as fortifications any longer, converted the space between the walls into beautiful gardens: There are enormous...

Sunday, March 11, 2018 Joyce and I love markets, and we always try to visit them when traveling; we get a feel for a place from its markets.   Our day started with a visit to Marsaxlokk, a fishing village on a bay which has a widely known Sunday fish market.   It was jammed.   The fishermen (all men) go out overnight and bring in the catch early in the morning.   Many of the boats are painted in a traditional manner, and the bay is beautiful: Here’s a boat up on the shore: The path along the shore is jammed with merchants, almost all women, selling the catch and shouting out to the customers walking from one seller to another: Many of the merchants have signs to let you know the price and how and where the fish was caught: Here’s an eel being weighed: There were small sharks for sale: The tray of squid really was this color: There were a few stalls selling vegetables, fruit, an...

Saturday, March 10, 2018 Our day began with an hour-long talk on the maritime history of Malta, with special attention to three towns across from Valletta, collectively known as Cottonera.   This story of the building of fortresses by the Knights, the attacks from the sea, the occupation by Napoleon’s forces, the blockade by the British, the whole story is complex and quite remarkable.   The lecturer was very good; he ended with the British controlling the entire Mediterranean with naval centers at Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus.   We then traveled to Cottonera and walked through the beautiful streets: Some of the buildings date to the 13 th century; this Norman house has original windows: Again we saw many beautiful door knockers.   The dolphin is a traditional motif: We visited the Church of St. Lawrence in Vittoriosa, one of the three towns which make up Cottonera.   There are two statues of the Virgin Mary with a sword i...

Friday, March 9, 2018   St. John or St. Paul.   Their churches in Valletta battled for pre-eminence, and St. John’s won.   But St. Paul gave a good fight. After the successful defense of the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565, the city of Valletta was planned and built; the first completely planned city in Europe, and it’s on a grid.   In a city 900 by 630 meters there are 25 churches!   Two major churches were built, that of St. Paul starting in 1570, and that of St. John starting in 1574.   We spent considerable time in the St. John church today.   Called a co-cathedral (the actual Maltese cathedral is in the city of Mdina), it was originally very plain.   It was constructed with no bell tower, spires or domes to keep it hidden from potential sea-based bombardment.   When the knights had sufficient funds, it was decorated by an Italian, Mattia Preti, who became a member of the Order of St. John.   He painted f...