The butterfly arrives in Malta
(Il-farfett jasal Malta)

The country

Malta is one of a group of islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Only the three largest islands in the group have people living on them: Malta, Gozo and Comino.

Malta is very low and rocky with many coastal cliffs and numerous bays which make good natural harbours.

Malta’s Mediterranean climate makes it a favourite holiday destination for more than one million people every year.  The island has limited fresh water and relies on desalination.

The dry docks in Malta are owned by the state and employ about 3,800 people in ship- building and repair.

Food and drink

Pastizziis made of flaky pastry filled with ricotta cheese or a mixture of peas and beef.

Sometimes it is eaten with kinnie, a non-alcoholic herb drink.

Other local dishes are timpana (a macaroni pie), minestra (a Maltese version of the Italian minestrone soup), and lampuki pie (a kind of fish).

Landmarks

On Malta, the megalithic temples are thought to be the oldest stone buildings in the world, built 6,000 years ago.

Clothes of woven fabrics, cane and willow furniture found at the site lead experts to think that the people who lived there must have been very advanced.

The period of Arab influence is still to be seen in the town of Mdina and elsewhere on the islands.

The Knights of Malta

The Order of St John of Jerusalem began with a group of merchants from Amalfi in Italy in the 11th century AD.

They set up a hospital in Jerusalem to help Christian pilgrims who wished to travel to the Holy Land. Their patron saint was St John.

When travel became dangerous, they started to provide armed escorts for the pilgrims and this developed into a military organisation.

The people they helped gave them presents of land and money and the Order became very rich.

They had to leave Jerusalem in 1187 when the city was captured by the Saracens. First they went to Acre, then to Cyprus in 1291 and to Rhodes in 1310 until Suleiman I of Turkey attacked Rhodes in 1522.

Suleiman, however, allowed the Order to leave in peace because he admired them so much.

In 1530 Charles V of Spain offered them the Maltese islands for an annual rent of one falcon. Their leader, a Frenchman called Philippe Villiers de l’Isle Adam, accepted this offer and became the first Grand Master of the Knights of Malta.

The members of the Order wore a black tunic and cloak with a white, eight-pointed cross on the front of the tunic — the Maltese Cross.

Events and festivals

Mnarja, celebrates the feast of St Peter and St Paul on 29 June.  It starts with an all-night picnic of fenkata (rabbit stew) and wine, with lots of music and dancing.  The following day there are donkey and horse races with prizes of palji -- a banner that the winners donate to their local church.

Quccija means ‘choosing’.  On a child’s first birthday, a basket is filled with various objects to represent different jobs.  The child is shown the basket and the first thing that is touched is supposed to show the child’s future.