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.

Valleta

While traveling through the Mediterranean, Sir Walter Scott described Valletta as 'the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen'. Today it's a beautifully preserved 16th-century walled city, small enough to cover in a few hours without sweating too much in the Mediterranean sun. Guarding the harbor are two gargantuan fortresses, St.Elmo, where there is a war museum, and Ricasoli. If one is not looking up in Valletta, then one will probably be looking down, at the tombstones of the Knights of the Order of St John in St John's Cathedral.

St. John’s Cathedral

St. John’s Cathedral was built between 1573 and 1578. It was designed by the Maltese military architect Gerolamo Cassar, who built several of the more prominent buildings in Valetta. The inside was largely designed by Mattia Preti, the Calabrian artist and Knight. Preti designed the intricate carved stone walls and painted the vaulted ceiling and side altars with scenes from the life of St John. St. John's was originally the regular church of the Knights of St. John, but grew to equal prominence with the archbishop's cathedral at Mdina

The President’s Palace

The President’s Palace was once the Palace of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John. The palace is a treasure trove of art. In the Tapestry Chamber hangs a unique collection of Gobelin tapestries. Frescoes depicting the Great Siege of 1565, by Perez d' Aleccio, adorn the Hall of St Michael and St George, formerly the Order's Supreme Council Hall. The decorations on the ceiling of the corridors are by Nicolo Nasini. Many of the State Apartments are embellished with friezes describing episodes of the Order's history. In the various State Apartments are outstanding works of art by famous painters.

Museum of Archeology

The more important collections covering Maltese archaeology are housed in the Auberge de Provence, Valletta, one of the Inns of the Knights of St. John. Collections of prehistoric pottery, sculpture, statuettes, stone implements and personal ornaments recovered from the Maltese megalithic temples and other pre-historic sites are exhibited. Typical examples of tomb furniture of the Punic and Roman periods are also displayed.

Gozo

Gozo, an outlaying island near the main island of Malta, has its share of medieval architecture and prehistoric temples, making it a great place to escape the tourism mill. It also has some of the best beaches and snorkeling venues in the Mediterranean

Gozo Museum of Archeology

A good place to begin exploring Gozo is at the Museum of Archaeology, found just inside the walls of the Citadel in Victoria, the main town of Gozo, behind the Old Gate, in a 17th century building that was originally the Town Hall. The museum exhibits the cultural history of Gozo from prehistoric times to the early modern era, presented chronologically from the Neolithic and Temple Period onwards through the Phoenician, Roman, Medieval and Knights of St John periods.

The Citadel

The Citadel itself owes its roots to the late medieval era, but the hill has been settled since Neolithic times. After the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights set about re-fortifying it to provide refuge and defense against further attack. Until 1637, the Gozitan population was required by law to spend their nights within the Citadel for their own safety. Today the narrow alleys of the Citadel contain shops selling local crafts and produce. The Citadel's fine baroque Cathedral is a masterpiece designed by Lorenzo Gafa. The site on which it stands may well have been that of the Roman Temple of Juno, mentioned by Cicero in his writings. The Cathedral, built early in the 17th century, is small but graceful. Its floor is made up of a mosaic of marble tombstones and ecclesiastical emblems, while its ceiling has a remarkable trompe l'oeil painting depicting the interior of a dome that was never built.

The Megaliths

Two massive megaliths were carved into temples by the pre-Phoenician Gozitans somewhere between 4100 and 2500BC, and now stand on the island as mysterious monuments to a bygone age. Legend has it that they were transported to the island by a giantess called Sansuna, hence the name of the site, Ghantija, which means 'giant'. Large stone balls in the area, however, have led archaeologists to conclude that the massive blocks were rolled into place atop these. The two temples have a common façade but each has a separate entrance; one is larger than the other. It is believed both originally had roofing made of wooden beams, and that animal sacrifices were made in the temples during rituals. The temples have been documented as the oldest free standing structures in the world.

Calypso’s Cave

The alabaster caves at Xaghra feature stalactites and stalagmites, and have an important place in Greek mythology, particularly the Calypso Cave, overlooking the red sand of Gozo's best beach, Ramla Ihamra. Calypso cave is believed to be the one referred to in Homer's Odyssey as being where the beautiful nymph Calypso kept Odysseus as a 'prisoner of love' for seven years. Below Calypso Cave are the remains of a fortification built by the Knights of St John.

Mdina

This 3000-year-old city, once the political center of Malta, is filled with Norman and baroque buildings and narrow cobblestone streets. The best-preserved medieval building is the Norman-style Palazzo Falzon, built in 1495. Mdina has a beautiful main piazza, where you'll find the 11th-century Roman Catholic Sicula-Norman Cathedral, one of the few buildings to survive an earthquake in 1693. The cathedral museum houses a collection of Dürer woodcuts. The icon of the Madonna above the tabernacle is attributed to St Luke. The nearby suburb of Rabat, which translates roughly as 'suburb', has the interesting Museum of Roman Antiquities, which offers exhibits on the island's 1000 years under Roman rule.

Ħaġar Qim

Dating from as early as 3600 BC, this megalithic temple complex is adorned with carved animals and idols, sacrificial altars and oracular chambers, all executed with nothing more than flint and obsidian tools. Giant limestone slabs form a series of ovals laid out in a pattern that some archaeologists have compared to Mother Goddess figurines found on the site.

Visiting Malta

Malta can be accessed by air from most cities in Europe, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. There is also a ferry service during the summer between Malta and Sicily. Malta and Gozo can be explored on foot, but a rented car is also a good option. There is a ferry service between and Gozo which takes about twenty minutes.