Birgu, also known by its title Città Vittoriosa, is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of land with Fort Saint Angelo at its head and the city of Cospicua at its base. Birgu is ideally situated for safe anchorage, and over time it has developed a very long history with maritime, mercantile and military activities.
Żejtun is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at end 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim in 1797. Before that, the village was known as Casale Santa Caterina, named after its patron saint and parish titular.
António Manoel de Vilhena was a Portuguese nobleman who was the 66th Prince and Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 19 June 1722 to his death in 1736. Unlike a number of the other Grand Masters, he was benevolent and popular with the Maltese people. Vilhena is mostly remembered for the founding of Floriana, the construction of Fort Manoel and the Manoel Theatre, and the renovation of the city of Mdina.
Mdina, also known by its titles Città Vecchia or Città Notabile, is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Malta, which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city is still confined within its walls, and has a population of just under 300, but it is contiguous with the town of Rabat, which takes its name from the Arabic word for suburb, and has a population of over 11,000.
Naxxar is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of about 13,443 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxxar was formerly known for hosting the Maltese International Trade Fair at Maltese International Trade Fair Grounds.
Maltese architecture has its origins in prehistory, and some of the oldest free-standing structures on Earth – a series of megalithic temples – can be found on Malta. The islands were colonized by the Phoenicians and later the Romans, who established the cities of Melite and Gaulos. Although these were substantial settlements and are known to have had numerous temples, churches and palaces, few remains have survived apart from some architectural fragments.
The Cittadella, also known as the Castello, is the citadel of Victoria on the island of Gozo, Malta. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, and the site now occupied by the Cittadella is believed to have been the acropolis of the Punic-Roman city of Gaulos or Glauconis Civitas.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul, commonly known as St Paul's Cathedral or the Mdina Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Mdina, Malta, dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle. The cathedral was founded in the 12th century, and according to tradition it stands on the site of where Roman governor Publius met St. Paul following his shipwreck on Malta. The original cathedral was severely damaged in the 1693 Sicily earthquake, so it was dismantled and rebuilt in the Baroque style to a design of the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà between 1696 and 1705. The cathedral is regarded as Gafà's masterpiece.
Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger brother of the sculptor Melchiorre Cafà.
Paul Alphéran de Bussan was a French Roman Catholic archbishop who served as Bishop of Malta from 1728 till 1757.
Melite or Melita was an ancient city located on the site of present-day Mdina and Rabat, Malta. It started out as a Bronze Age settlement, which developed into a city called Maleth under the Phoenicians, and became the administrative centre of the island. The city fell to the Roman Republic in 218 BC, and it remained part of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire until 870 AD, when it was captured and destroyed by the Aghlabids. The city was then rebuilt and renamed Medina, giving rise to the present name Mdina. It remained Malta's capital city until 1530.
Maltese Baroque architecture is the form of Baroque architecture that developed in Malta during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the islands were under the rule of the Order of St. John. The Baroque style was introduced in Malta in the early 17th century, possibly by the Bolognese engineer Bontadino de Bontadini during the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct. The style became popular in the mid to late 17th century, and it reached its peak during the 18th century, when monumental Baroque structures such as Auberge de Castille were constructed.
The Chapel of St Agatha is a small Roman Catholic church located in the medieval city of Mdina, Malta.
St Blaise's Chapel is a wayside chapel located in the countryside between the villages of Siġġiewi and Rabat. The chapel is governed by the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Paul in Mdina.
The Church of the Annunciation also known as The Carmelite Church is a rich Baroque priory church of the Priory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel located in Mdina, Malta.
Wardija is a hamlet in St. Paul's Bay, Malta, about 363 feet above sea level. Its name is corrupted from the Sicilian or Italian word guardia, meaning to watch). Although the name of the hamlet has Arabic lexicons, it was probably named later when Maltese, then an Arabic dialect, remained a dominant language. The hamlet is bordered with Bidnija, Buġibba, San Martin and Pwales. Several archeological remains are found in the whereabouts, proving that it was inhabited in pre-history and the Roman period, and it has always been mainly a rural village. From the 16th till the 18th-centuries it saw a shift into a hunting zone with the construction of several hunting lodges and chapels.
The Chapel of St. Roque, also known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Light, is a Roman Catholic chapel located in Mdina, Malta.
The Church and Monastery of St Peter is a Catholic Benedictine monastery for Cloistered nuns located in the medieval city of Mdina, Malta. The adjacent church is dedicated to St Peter and St Benedict.
St. Catherine's Old Church, also known as St. Gregory's Church, is a Roman Catholic church in Żejtun. The church and its complex sit towards the outskirts of the town, commanding views over Marsascala Bay, St. Thomas' Bay and Marsaxlokk harbour. The church is colloquially known as Saint Gregory's due to a traditional procession held on the first Wednesday following Easter Sunday. Its dedication to Catherine of Alexandria dates back to an original chapel on this site, which was one of the eight mother churches on Malta. The church stands next to the three cemeteries of Żejtun, dedicated to St. Rocco, St. Gregory and St. Catherine. The church's functions as the parish church of Żejtun were taken over by a new parish church, also dedicated to St. Catherine, and designed by Lorenzo Gafà.
Stefano Erardi (1630–1716) was a Maltese painter whose works may be found in many churches around the Maltese Islands. His style has been described as either late Mannerist or Baroque.
