Cannon Fodder

Day 2 – Il Burgu, Malta

Collachio still has a few
bargain buy homes!

Burgu Piazza

The eastern shore of Grand Harbour is made up of three slim fingers, L-Isla, Il Burgu and Il Kalkara. These fort & defensive wall covered enclaves are known as the Three Cities.  Il Burgu held the most interest for us as it was here that the Knights first built their auberges (inns) when they arrived on Malta.  This district, Collachio, is now quiet and rather charming, with narrow cobbled streets and well cared for homes.  After prowling through the area for a bit, our next stop was the Inquisitors Palace.

Chapel, Inquisitors Palace

Fine marble staircase

Beautifully carved pulpit

Following the Great Siege, the Knights apparently “relaxed” a little - well, a bit too much for Rome anyway.  The Pope dispatched an Inquisitor to bring the Order back into line.  Needless to say, the Inquisitors Palace was rather luxurious for those who sat in judgement, but we all know the story of the hundreds of years of the Inquisition.  This delightful Palace with its pleasant courtyard garden also served as the court and jail for naughty Knights. 

The Naval Museum looks like fun....

St George also featured - quite often!

After the horrors of the Inquisitors, it was time to check out a British bakery.  In the 19^th c, the British constructed a warehouse on Il Burgu’s waterfront to make and supply bread for its forces.  The Naval Museum is now proudly housed here.  Although GS was initially disconcerted by banks of engines and displays of tools, it turned out to be a very interesting record of Malta’s seafaring traditions. Bread and minestrone featured on the provisioning list, even for slaves. 

Knights of St John also had a serious fleet (Naval Museum)

Fort St Angelo to the left, Super Yachts to the right...
This view is taken from where Mega yachts languish in splendour 

Further along the seafront (beyond the chandlery we just had to visit and the expensive Camper & Nicholson Marina opened by HRH QE2 no less) lies the imposing Fort St Angelo.  Despite no indication to the contrary, it is NOT open to the public.  We were unceremoniously waved away. 

Fort St Angelo was home to the Grand Master until the island’s capital, Valletta, was constructed.  No checking for the "pit" deep underground where naughty Knights spent time in reflection then!

Many of the old mansions had expressive faces carved onto their soft stone walls.  This one (left) is hard to see as he was high up on a second storey but we're sure he's telling us to mind our manners or we'll be on a slippery slope to a fiery place. Just like naughty Knights....

Burgu Waterfront 

With time to spare, we headed back into Valletta to take in the Archaeology Museum and its astounding collection of artefacts from 5000 years ago.  The display was well set out, showing some amazing discoveries found across Malta. 

The famous Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum (4000 – 2500 BC & no, that’s not too many zeros!) allows only 80 visitors a day, so forget short notice visitors like us.  Also, during this peak tourist season it was closed (??) for ongoing restoration, so the Museum was our only hope of finding out more about this amazing Neolithic construction and civilization.

The Sleeping Lady - from Malta's ancient temples

The Archaeology Museum is housed in an impressive Palace!

We again in the evening, sat down by the dock watching locals busily setting up for a very important religious festival and listening to the nightly ritual (and early morning too) of cannon fire echoing around the harbour. 

Getting ready for an important festival