Malta is not only an island in the Mediterranean, but also an independent prosperous state located on several islands in the Maltese archipelago. The current member of the EU gained its independence from Great Britain back in 1964 and since then has been leading a completely successful independent existence.
Malta is a developed country located in the Mediterranean Sea on the islands of Malta, Gozo, St. Paul and Filfla. Malta also includes several other small uninhabited islands. The closest territories to Malta will be the Italian island of Sicily and the North African state of Tunisia. Since Malta was a colony of Great Britain for a long time, then in the 21st century English is used on the islands of this country, which is considered the official language along with Maltese. The native speakers of the Maltese language are representatives of the Maltese ethnic group, which in its anthropological characteristics is close to the Arab population of North Africa, and their language also belongs to the Afrasian branch of the Semitic languages and is very close to Arabic.
The first inhabitants of Malta were the Phoenicians, who are the ancestors of the modern Maltese. Over time, the language of the Maltese has undergone changes, succumbing to the strong influence of the English and Italian languages.
The total area of Malta is small and is only 316 square kilometers. The capital of the Republic of Malta is Valletta, founded in 1566, with only 9,000 inhabitants.
Where is Malta and how to get there
Directly from Russia to Malta can be reached from Moscow. Charters are organized from large cities of Russia in summer, as a rule, at least once a week. Regular flights from Moscow to Malta International Airport (6 km from Valletta) are operated by AirMalta on Wednesdays and Sundays, and in the summer the number of flights may be increased by one or two. Recently, AirMalta has been sending aircraft from St. Petersburg to Valletta. There is no direct regular flights with Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, but from these countries you can get to Malta on Lufthansa planes via Frankfurt.
What you can see in Malta
Thousands of tourists fly to Malta to visit the ancient temple complex of Ggantija on the island of Gozo. This direction is especially popular among seekers of places of power, because Ggantija is a megalithic temple which, according to local legends, was built by a race of giant people to worship the gods of fertility. Ggantija is not the only megalithic complex in Malta. In total, there are no less than six such sanctuaries on these small islands.
Valletta can be safely called one of the most beautiful and mysterious cities in Europe.
The island of Malta is closely associated with the oldest knightly order of St. John of Jerusalem, and the ancient fort of Sant'Angelo still belongs to the order, which is recognized by international law as a sovereign state.
The stunning stone architecture will leave no one indifferent. Due to the small space in Valletta, there is a large concentration of castles and churches, but the main symbol of the city can be called the Temple of the Victorious Madonna. Most of Valletta's buildings were erected almost at the same time, which gives the city a monolithic historical appearance, which is quite a rarity for European cities affected by two world wars.
