Islands

A Malta profile from Islands, the leading guide to island travel:

Malta is one of those marriages of history, culture, and climate found few places beyond the Mediterranean. Sandy beaches, water clear enough to provide some of the best diving in that vast sea, medieval citadels, village festivals dating back centuries, even a Blue Grotto a la Capri…this is an island (along with sister isles Gozo and Comino) that could inspire poetry.

In Valleta, Malta’s ancient capital, frescoes in the Grand Masters’ Palace (built in 1574), depict the story of the Knights of Malta, those intrepid crusaders who staved off the invasion of Europe by Turks in the Great Siege of 1565. In the decades that followed, those wealthy knights turned Valletta into an architectural showcase of palaces, gardens, and churches it remains today.
But Malta is not all about the past.

The nightlife (from casinos to clubs with top European DJs in St. Julian’s, a Valletta suburb) is lively, an international jazz festival tops an impressive cultural calendar, the beaches on the northwest coast (Golden Bay and Ghajn Tuiffieha) are a treat, the diving off Gozo is delightful, and the cliff-lined coast near Zurrieq is pocked with several Blue Grotto-like caves where you can swim in what’s been called "stained-glass" blue water. Poetry, one might say...

Malta by Wonderclub.com

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