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Land of Honey: Malta

Medieval meets modern in this scenic little country located in the southern part of Europe on the Mediterranean Sea. Malta is an archipelago comprised of seven islands. The island nation has a warmer climate due to its location near North Africa. It enjoys a very favorable geographic position that has attracted several different ancient cultures to it. Throughout the centuries, the country has gone under a number of different dominating groups including the Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians and Byzantines.

Language

The official language in the islands is Maltese although English is also widely spoken. This is mainly attributed to the fact that Malta was once a British colony before it obtained its independence in 1964. Maltese is a language that originated from the Siculo-Arabic languages typical of Sicily and Southern Italy. This Semitic language borrows heavily from its Sicilian and Italian language cousins with its alphabet based on the Latin characters albeit diacritically altered.

Other languages spoken in Malta include Italian and French.

What’s in a name?

Many experts have sought to identify the origin of the country’s name. The closest they could get was on the Phoenician term Maleth which means a “haven”. Some historians believe that that the name comes from the term Melita which is what the Greeks used to call the place. This word essentially means “honey” or “honey-sweet”. The country is popular for its unique production of honey; hence, the name.

Culture

Roman Catholicism is the country’s state religion although other religions are freely practiced in the islands. Malta is one of the most Catholic countries in the world with over ninety percent of its population practicing the religion. It also has the highest rates of church attendance in Europe, thus reflecting the strict religious values that the nation aims to uphold.

Many are inclined to agree that the culture of Malta is a combination of several different cultures from various nations that have, in one way or another, been associated with the country. Throughout the centuries, it has managed to adopt certain influences from dominant ancient cultures such as that of Sicilians, Romans and Greeks.

Maltese culture is greatly reflected on the country’s architecture, music and art. If you wish to learn more about this interesting nation, all you need to do is look at the works of art and other masterpieces that are featured all around the country.

Modern Maltese culture is again a mixture of different traditions and practices. It was produced from a really long process of adaptation, assimilation and the establishment of new beliefs based on existing ones.

Attractions

For such a small country, you will never run out of things to do and places to visit during your stay in Malta. The country features many interesting sights that you should visit during your stay. UNESCO has three of the famous tourist landmarks in the country listed under its World Heritage Sites. These places include the city of Valletta – known for its historic buildings and interesting architecture; the Hypogeum of Fial Saflieni, the prehistoric underground temple located in Paola; and the Megalithic temples of Malta.