Oldest Church in Malta
Malta is home to over 365 chapels and churches – one for every day of the year. Some of these are recent, but the majority are at least two-hundred years old. Places of worship range from small wayside chapels, to lavish parish churches and ornate cathedrals, such as those in Valletta and Mdina. Some of these churches and chapels are very old, with several contenders for the accolade of the oldest church or chapel in Malta. The older ones often have graffiti scrawled on the outer walls, a legacy left behind from the times of the Knights, and often images of galleys were carved into the soft globigerina limestone from which many Maltese buildings are made.
The Corinthia Palace in Attard is one of Malta’s most luxurious hotels. Situated right in the centre of the island, this five-star hotel is owned by The Corinthia Hotel Group, and is opposite the Presidential Palace and San Anton gardens.
Property in Malta is considered to be a good investment; even with the global recession, prices haven’t dropped significantly and have now almost stabilised. The Malta real estate boom started in the 1960′s, with large scale development and the building of newer towns such as Santa Lucija in the vicinity of Paola and Tarxien in the south of the island. With the island being small, one of the smallest countries in Europe bar the Vatican and Monaco, land is at a premium and properties have significantly increased in value over recent years. Malta’s population density is one of the highest in the world.
Being warm and sunny during the daytime for most of the year, the Maltese islands are a popular wedding destination for couples looking to tie the knot in the Mediterranean. There are two options for those getting married in Malta; a civil or religious wedding. With Malta being one of the most Catholic countries in the world, the majority of churches are Catholic and have strict requirements for marriage. The Maltese generally opt for a religious ceremony, with proof of baptism, confirmation and single status being prerequisites, along with a church-sanctioned marriage preparation course run by the Cana Movement.
Malta’s smaller, more rural sister island, Gozo, is an idyllic getaway from the hustle and bustle of daily life. When you arrive in Gozo’s main port of Mgarr and emerge from the ferry terminal into the bright Gozitan sunshine, you get a sense that you have gone back in time. Life on this sleepy island is carefree and laid back, and is a contrast to Malta itself. In Gozo, being an island with an agricultural legacy, there are green fields and farms littered all over the landscape. Many of these older farmhouses have been renovated especially for tourists for holiday lets. In many cases, swimming pools have been installed and the properties have all mod-cons available.
