TOP 5
Feasts and festivals
FEAST OF ST PAUL’S SHIPWRECK, VALLETTA Honouring the arrival of Christianity in Malta, the winter feast sees the islands’ streets festooned in bright garlands and showered with paper confetti, as devotees follow a trail led by the clergy. 10 February.
HOLY WEEK Widely considered the most exciting time to experience Malta’s culture, Holy Week sees towns and villages throughout the islands celebrate time-honoured traditions in the days leading up Good Friday.
FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION, GOZO Sleepy Gozo gets woken up each August as marching bands and revelling locals parade through candle-lit streets, with festivities reaching a crescendo in Victoria on the final day. Celebrations take place for around a week either side of 15 August.
DAY ONE GRAND DISCOVERIES
MORNING Panoramas abound in hilly Valletta, and its old city walls offer the ideal vantage point. Start with sunrise at the City Gate. As the light falls upon a swathe of church cupolas, absorb views from Msida in the west to Sliema in the north. Look out, too, to Manoel Island, site of a ruined 17th-century lazzaretto (plague hospital). Next, head to St John’s Co-Cathedral to see the final resting place of Jean Parisot de la Valette, the Order of St John’s most illustrious Grand Master, who laid the city’s first stone in 1566. The church is modest on the outside, but the interior is a different story: the floor is made up of 376 tombs decorated with inlaid marble, and Caravaggio’s masterpiece, The Beheading of St John the Baptist, adorns the wall.
AFTERNOON Winding streets lead you to the remains of the 19th-century Royal Opera House, decimated during the Second World War but artfully restored by architect Renzo Piano to create today’s open-air theatre, Pjazza Teatru Rjal. It’s a short stroll across Republic Street to the Grandmaster’s Palace with its green gallariji (typically Maltese wooden balconies found all over Valletta). Rest your feet at the Upper Barrakka Gardens and gaze out to the Grand Harbour, where the Great Siege of Malta took place in 1565, before lunch at the elegant Harbour Club. Set inside a converted 17th-century boathouse, the restaurant serves tasty and beautifully presented dishes such as Acquerello risotto with calamari with chive oil.
EVENING Make your way down to the harbourside, and flag down a wooden dghajsa (traditional rowing boat) to cross to the tiny fortified city of Vittoriosa, known as Birgu in Maltese. Explore the Malta At War Museum to learn about its role in the Second World War, during which it endured more than 3,000 air raids. Next up, head to the Norman House, a rare 13th-century example of Sicolo-Norman architecture and believed to be one of the oldest buildings in Vittoriosa; owner and restorer Charlie Bugeja offers guided tours by appointment. No doubt you’ve worked up an appetite by now, so swing by Tal- Petut for some authentic Maltese cuisine, such as hearty stewed rabbit and twice-baked pork.
KARNIVAL TA’MALTA The Maltese spend the week preceding Ash Wednesday parading floats through the streets, hosting balls and comparing grotesque masks and elaborate fancy dress. The tradition is believed to have been introduced by Grand Master Piero de Ponte in the 1500s.
NOTTE BIANCA, VALLETTA For one night only each October, the capital’s museums, palaces and galleries open their doors to the public free of charge, and streets, piazzas and gardens — including those belonging to some of Valletta’s major landmarks — play host to performances by local and international artists.
visitmalta.com/events
Jan/Feb 2021 49
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