Malta Turns 50 & Gets the Royal Treatment


Picture credits go to Royalista.com
From one celebrity to another, Malta is really enjoying being in the media spotlight recently! As some of you may know, yesterday (21st September) Malta celebrated 50 years of independence. Since Malta was a British colony up until we gained independence, and is still a member of the commonwealth till today, we were treated to a special visit from Prince William himself who came instead of his wife after she had to cancel due to severe morning sickness.

The prince was in Malta for a day and a half of jam packed activities and site-seeing. It was his first visit to Malta so he really had a lot to see and do. Amongst the sites he visited was St. John’s Co-Cathedral – one of the must see sites when visiting the little island we love to call home. He also took a short harbour cruise on board a traditional Maltese boat, where he was able to take in the beauty of the Grand Harbour from the sea.

So what’s next for Malta? Well according to the Daily Mail (not that it’s a very reliable source or anything), the Queen is planning on visiting Malta next October for the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) together with her three heirs to the throne – Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. If this bit of news is true, it will be the first time the monarch will travel together with her three heirs. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malta's Game of Thrones Locations

Image
As Game of Thrones fans all over the world celebrate the eagerly awaited sixth season of the hit TV series, we thought that it would be appropriate to take a nostalgic trip back to the first season. Back to the season that saw Viserys receive his crown of gold, the execution of Ned Stark and the wedding of Daenerys to Khal Drogo. As some fans may know, a lot of season 1 was filmed on location in Malta and Ireland, so we decided to list some of our favourite locations in Malta.  1. Mdina Gate - King's Landing Gate Mdina is a walled hill town found in the centre of the island. It is Malta's old capital city and dates back to around 4000 years ago.  In the first season of Game of Thrones, Mdina's city gate was featured as the gate of King's Landing and saw Catelyn and Ser Rodrik Cassel ride through the gates of Mdina (or King's Landing) to investigate the attack on Bran.  2. Fort Ricasoli - Red Keep Gate Fort Ricasoli is a large fortification
Read more

Legends & Myths of Malta

Image
Malta's mysterious, 7000 years of history together with it's strong religious background makes it the perfect backdrop to a number of legends, myths and folk tales. Most of the stories find their foundations in truth and historical facts, with each story being embellished by every generation that narrated it. Other stories were used as explanations of different phenomena that people could not explain. Here are some of our favourite myths & legends... St. Paul & The Venomous Viper This is legend is probably the best known amongst the locals, as it is about Malta's Patron Saint and can be found in the Bible. The story says that when St. Paul was shipwrecked in Malta, he was gathering wood to make himself a fire, as he lit the fire a viper was driven out by the heat and bit him. The Maltese, who were very superstitious people, expected St. Paul to die of poisoning, however, he simply shook the snake off into the fire and no harm came to him. It is said th
Read more

Malta's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Image
Malta, only 316 square kilometres in size, and home to an impressive 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. OK, so if you visit the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website you will find only 3 properties on the Maltese Islands inscribed on the World Heritage List - these are the City of Valletta, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, and the Megalithic Temples of Malta. However, under the title of "Megalithic Temples of Malta" one can find seven temples around Malta and Gozo, so that makes the total of 9 sites in all. The oldest of all these temples are the two  Ġgantija temples that can be found on the island of Gozo. These temples are renowned for their gigantic Bronze Age structures. Dating from around 3600 to 3200 BC, they are the oldest, free-standing monuments in the world and are evidence that Gozo was inhabited for at least 1000 years before the Egyptians built the pyramids in Giza. Due to the gigantic dimensions of the monuments, locals believed that the temples were built by
Read more