Malta’s strategic setting at the crossroads of the Mediterranean shipping lanes has always played a crucial role in the island’s history. Over the centuries the great Mediterranean powers have fought to dominate the islands, each new arrival leaving its legacy. What you see today is a complex amalgam of ethnic influences. The Arabs introduced citrus [...]

It didn’t take the knights of St John long to discover the potential of the slopes of Mount Sceberras and the great sweep of surrounding harbour. A matter of months after the epic siege of 1565, Francesco Laparelli was sent to Malta by Pope Pius IV to advise on the building of a new city. [...]