Megaliths, medieval dungeons and Calypso's Cave, al combine to make Malta a positively mythic place. The narrow cobblestone streets of its towns are crowded with Norman cathedrals and baroque palaces. The countryside is littered with the oldest known human structures in the world.
Malta's
oldest legacy is the megalithic temples that date from as far back as 3600 BC.
The Phoenicians colonized the islands around 800 BC and ruled for about 600
years. The Romans made Malta
part of their empire in 208 BC. Apart from Odysseus' stay on Gozo, known as
Calypso's Isle, the most famous visitor to the island was the apostle Paul, who
was shipwrecked on Malta
in 60 AD. Tradition has it that he converted the islanders to Christianity.
Several hundred years of peaceful isolation followed, until Arabs from North
Africa arrived in 870. The Arabs exerted a powerful influence on the Maltese,
introducing citrus fruits and cotton and warping the language. Norman invaders
from Sicily displaced the Arabs
in 1090, and for the next 400 years Malta
remained under their sway.
In 1530 the Emperor of Spain gave the islands to the Knights of the Order of
St John of Jerusalem,
in exchange for a rent of two Maltese falcons a year. They fortified the
islands, just in time for an invasion of 30,000 Turks in 1565. The Turks laid
siege to Malta
for three months, but 700 knights and 8000 Maltese managed to hold them off.
With fame and power came corruption, and the knights turned to piracy. By the
time Napoleon arrived in 1798, the Knights were too enfeebled to put up a fight.
It was the British who aided the Maltese in their fight against the French, and
by 1814 Malta
was a British colony. Britain
turned Malta
into a major naval base, making it an inviting target for the Axis during WWII.
After a long blockade and five months of non-stop bombing raids, Malta
was devastated. On 15 April 1942,
King George VI awarded the George Cross, Britain's
highest award for civilian bravery, to
the entire Maltese population. The Maltese were staring down the barrel of
surrender when a relief convoy limped into port, allowing Malta
to go on to play a crucial role in the invasion of Italy.
Soon after the war, Malta
began moving away from Britain
and toward independence, achieving complete autonomy in 1964. In 1974, it
became a republic. In recent decades, the Maltese achieved considerable
prosperity, thanks largely to tourism - every summer the Maltese population
triple due to an influx of tourists - but the island nation is also
increasingly benefiting from trade and light industries.