1.
Fort St. Angelo
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Fort Saint Angelo is a large bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the period as a castle called the Castrum Maris or the Castello al Mare. The fort was garrisoned by the British from 1800 to 1979, the fort suffered considerable damage during World War II, but it was later restored. In 1998, the part of the fort was handed back to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Fort St. Angelo has been on Maltas tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998, the date of its original construction is unknown. However, there are claims of prehistoric or classical buildings near the site, due to some large ashlar blocks, there is also the mentioning in Roman texts of a temple dedicated to Juno/Astarte, probably in the vicinity of the fort. Its probable start as a fortification is the medieval period. In fact, in 1220 Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II started to appoint his own Castellani for Malta who needed a place to live, the remains of a tower that may date back to the 12th century can be traced among the more recent works. The first mention of Castrum Maris is to be found in documents from the 1240s when Paulinus of Malta was the lord of the island and later when Giliberto Abate made a census of the islands. Another reference to the castle is that from the short Angevin rule where documents list it again as Castrum Maris and it seems also that by 1274, the castle already had two chapels which are still there today. From the same year also a detailed inventory of weapons. From 1283 the Maltese islands were under Aragonese rule and the fortification was used by Castellani who were there to safeguard the interests of the Aragonese crown. In fact the Castellans did not have any jurisdiction outside the ditch of the fort, the Knights made this their primary fortification and substantially reinforced and remodelled it, including the cutting of the dry ditch to make it a moat and the DHomedes Bastion built by 1536. These works transformed the fort into a gunpowder fortification, Fort St Angelo withstood the Turks during the Great Siege of Malta, during which it succeeded in tearing apart a sea attack by the Turks on Senglea on 15 August 1565. In the aftermath of siege, the Knights built the fortified city of Valletta on Mount Sciberras on the other side of the Grand Harbour. In 1644, Giovanni de’ Medici proposed a new fort be constructed on Orsi Point, and he drew up plans for the proposed fort, but they were never implemented. It was not until the 1690s that the fort underwent major repairs. As a result, one can see his coat of arms above the main gate of the fort
2.
Auberge d'Angleterre
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Auberge dAngleterre is an auberge in Birgu, Malta. It was built in around 1534 to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of England and it now houses a health centre, and it is the best-preserved Hospitaller auberge in Birgu. Auberge dAngleterre incorporates an earlier building which originally belonged to a Maltese woman Catherine Abela. The building was sold to the English knight Sir Clement West in December 1534, the house was converted into the langues headquarters, and a first floor was added at this point. The rear of Auberge dAngleterre was linked to the now-destroyed Auberge dAllemagne, the auberge is also located adjacent to the house of Sir Oliver Starkey, the secretary of Grand Master Jean de Valette and one of the last English knights of the Order. The langue of England was suppressed in the century during the English Reformation. The langue was reestablished as the Anglo-Bavarian Langue in 1782, the building was included on the Antiquities List of 1925, together with the other auberges in Birgu. Until recently, Auberge dAngleterre was used as a public library, the auberge now houses the Vittoriosa Health Centre. Auberge dAngleterre has survived intact, and it is the best-preserved Hospitaller auberge in Birgu, the building was scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument on 22 December 2009, and it is also listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Auberge dAngleterre is built in the Melitan style, based on traditional Maltese architecture and it is a two-storey building with rooms built around a central courtyard. The piano nobile is located at the first floor and it has a plain façade with a doorway topped by a circular window and flanked by windows on each side. The first floor has an open balcony above the doorway. The door and windows are all decorated by Melitan mouldings, National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
3.
Malta Maritime Museum
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The Malta Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Birgu, Malta. It is housed in the former Royal Naval Bakery, which was built in the 1840s as the bakery for the Mediterranean Fleet. The museum has a collection of over 20,000 artifacts, the museums aim is to illustrate Maltas maritime history, starting from prehistory to the present. The museum shows this within a Mediterranean and a global context, the first plans to establish the Malta Maritime Museum were made in 1988, when an advisory committee was set up to set up the museum and collect artifacts from a number of sources. The then-derelict former Royal Naval Bakery in Birgu was chosen to house the museum, after four years, the museum opened to the public on 24 July 1992. It was inaugurated by the Minister for Education and Museums, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, the museum is housed in a large building on the Birgu waterfront which was formerly the Royal Naval Bakery. It was constructed between 1842 and 1845 on the site of the arsenal of the navy of the Order of Saint John and it was designed by the architect William Scamp, and its façade was reportedly inspired by Windsor Castle. The bakery took over the role of the Orders bakery in Valletta, the bakery formed part of the Victualling Yard of the Malta Dockyard, which supplied naval personnel of the Mediterranean Fleet with food and drink. At its peak, the bakery produced 30,000 pounds of bread, after World War II, the bakery was converted into the headquarters of the Admiralty Constabulary, also housing some offices and stores. It remained in use until British forces left Malta in 1979, the Malta Maritime Museums collection includes over 20,000 artifacts illustrating Maltas maritime history. The collection includes boats, models of ships and boats, anchors, amphorae, cannons, weapons, documents, paintings, uniforms. Highlights include a model of a third-rate ship of the navy of the Order of Saint John. This particular model dates back to the mid 18th-century, and it was used by the Orders nautical school. Another notable artifact is the largest known Roman anchor in the world, the collection also includes the figurehead of the Napoleonic-era ship of the line HMS Hibernia. The museum is open day from 09,00 to 17,00
4.
Collegiate Church of Saint Lawrence, Vittoriosa
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The Collegiate church of Saint Lawrence is an old Church situated in Birgu in Malta. When the Order of Saint John first settled in Malta in 1530, all of their langues were based in Birgu and it served this purpose for 41 years from 1530 to 1571 until the Knights were transferred to the new capital city Valletta. The foundation stone of the present church was laid in May 1681 by Bishop Molina, the church was inaugurated by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri on the feast of St Lawrence, August 10,1697. In 1820 Pope Pius VII bestowed the dignity of Collegiate church upon the church of St Lawrence. On January 16,1941 the church was bombed by a German air raid, both the sacristy and the chapter hall were destroyed. They were both re-built in 1949, on March 22 of the same year the chapel of the blessed Sacrament was destroyed and on April 4,1942 the dome of the church was destroyed. The chapel was re-built in 1951 and the dome was re-built in 1952, the church building is listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. The church includes many works of art amongst them the main altar piece by Mattia Preti showing the martyrdom of St Lawrence. Other works of art include paintings by Stefano Erardi such as Christ the Saviour and The Dead Christ Culture of Malta History of Malta List of Churches in Malta Religion in Malta
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
7.
Regions of Malta
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Malta is subdivided into 5 regions. Three regions were created by the Local Councils Act of 1993. Two of the regions were split into smaller ones by Act No, XVI of 2009, and now there are five regions. Each region has a Regional Committee, which consists of a Regional President, a Vice President, Local councils of Malta Districts of Malta NUTS of Malta ISO 3166-2, MT
8.
South Eastern Region
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The South Eastern Region is one of five regions of Malta. The region includes the part of the main island of Malta. The region borders the Central and Southern Regions and it was created by the Act No. XVI of 2009 out of part of Malta Xlokk, South Eastern Region includes parts of the South Eastern and Southern Harbour Districts. Peters The current South Eastern Regional Committee is made up of
9.
Districts of Malta
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Malta is subdivided in districts of localities in order to administer the country in regions rather than locality. The districts have no significance as the local councils provide the first-tier divisions of the country. There are 6 districts, used for purposes and which are, in turn, grouped into 3 regions, Gozo, Malta Majjistral. Each district consists of a number of localities, the Northern Harbour District, Western District and Northern District together form the North Western Region. The South Eastern District and Southern Harbour District together form the South Eastern Region, the Gozo and Comino District is a Region in its own right. The Southern Harbour District forms part of Malta Xlokk and it contains 14 local councils including the capital Valletta and the cities of Birgu, Cospicua, Senglea and Żabbar, with the largest locality being Żabbar while the smallest one is Xgħajra. The total population of the District is 81,834, while total area is 26.1 km2 and it is the second largest district by population and the fifth largest by area. It contains 13 local councils including the city of Qormi, with the largest locality being Birkirkara while the smallest one is Ta Xbiex, the total population of the District is 131,938, while total area is 24.1 km2. It is the largest district by population and the smallest by area, Birkirkara Il-Gżira Il-Ħamrun L-Imsida Pembroke Tal-Pietà Ħal Qormi San Ġiljan San Ġwann Santa Venera Tas-Sliema Is-Swieqi Ta Xbiex The South Eastern District forms part of Malta Xlokk. It contains 11 local councils including the city of Żejtun, with the largest locality being Marsaskala while the smallest one is Ħal Safi, the total population of the District is 66,060, while total area is 54.3 km2. It is the fourth largest district by population and area. Birżebbuġa Ħal Għaxaq Il-Gudja Ħal Kirkop Marsaskala Marsaxlokk L-Imqabba Il-Qrendi Ħal Safi Iż-Żejtun Iż-Żurrieq The Western District forms part of Malta Majjistral and it contains 10 local councils including the cities of Mdina, Siġġiewi and Żebbuġ, with the largest locality being Żebbuġ while the smallest one is Mdina. The total population of the District is 54,315, while total area is 72.5 km2 and it is the fifth largest district by population and the second largest by area. ĦAttard Ħal Balzan Ħad-Dingli L-Iklin Ħal Lija L-Imdina L-Imtarfa Ir-Rabat Is-Siġġiewi Ħaż-Żebbuġ The Northern District forms part of Malta Majjistral and it contains 6 local councils but no cities, with the largest locality being St. Pauls Bay while the smallest one is Għargħur. The total population of the District is 70,580, while total area is 73.6 km2 and it is the third largest district by population and the largest by area. Ħal Għargħur Il-Mellieħa L-Imġarr Il-Mosta In-Naxxar San Pawl il-Baħar The Gozo and it contains 14 local councils including the city of Victoria. This is also the largest locality while the smallest one is Għasri, the total population of the District is 37,288, while total area is 68.7 km2. It is the smallest district by population and the third largest by area, il-Belt Valletta, Archbishop Street Tel,22943101 Il-Furjana, St. Anne Str Tel,21236719 Pinto Police, Valletta Waterfront Tel,21226828 Headquarters in Valletta, the capital city of Malta
10.
Cospicua
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Cospicua, also known by its titles Città Cospicua or Civitas Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Along with Birgu and Senglea, it is one of the Three Cities, with a population of 5,395 as of March 2014, it is the most dense city of the Three Cities. The Maltese name Bormla or Burmula derives from Bir Mula that means well of the Lord, Cospicua has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Its maritime facilities started during ancient times around the Phoenician era c.600 BC, prior to the 18th century it was known as Bormla, a name which is still in use. Its fortification walls, constructed to protect the town and its neighbours Birgu, construction began in 1638 but was not completed for another 70 years. In 1722, Grand Master MarcAntonio Zondadari declared Bormla a city, in 1776, the Order of St. John started to construct a dockyard, which was to play a vital role in the development of this city. During British rule in Malta, the Royal Navy made extensive use of the dockyard, particularly during the Crimean War, the First World War and during the years preceding the Second World War. Cospicua, along with the rest of the area around the Grand Harbour, was bombed during this last war as Malta was under siege by the Axis powers. Plans are now underway for the transformation of an area of the dockyard into a commercial, Cospicua is also known as Belt l-Immakulata or the City of the Immaculate, referring to the Immaculate Conception or the Virgin Mary, who is the patron of the city. Every year a feast is being held on 8 December, Cospicua celebrates its feast which is held annually on 8 December in honour of the Immaculate Conception. Cospicua is known for its celebration of Good Friday, which began in the 18th century and is a popular tourist attraction, a statue of the Resurrection of Jesus is traditionally carried across the citys streets to symbolize Jesus triumph over death. Smaller statues are exhibited in the city. The people of Cospicua started the famous and artistic first Mejda tal-Appostli, which literally means and it consists of a display showing the food that was eaten during the Last Supper of Jesus and the 12 Apostles. It also consists of different stories of the Bible, made with coloured rice and salt, cospicuas football team is the St. Georges F. C. thought to be the oldest on the island. Documentation shows that by 1885 there were three football teams at Cospicua, which merged to form the current club in 1890. Cospicua is also famous for its Regatta team, which was one of the first and this team has won 17 shields overall, second only to Senglea. The 1st Cospicua Scout Group as formed in 1917, the St. Georges Band Club was officially founded in 1862. Its first name was La Banda dei Cospicuani but when Giorgio Crispo Barbaro, Marquis of St. George became first president of the Band, the citys fortifications, namely the Santa Margherita Lines and the Cottonera Lines, are largely intact although they are in need of restoration
11.
Kalkara
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Kalkara is a village in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,014 as of March 2014. The name is derived from the Latin word for lime, Kalkara forms part of the inner harbour area and occupies the area around Kalkara Creek. The town has its own Local Council and is bordered by the cities of Birgu and Żabbar, the village of Kalkara developed as a small fishing community around the sheltered inlet of Kalkara Creek. Some historians believe that the land today is known as Kalkara, was one of the first to be inhabited by the initial dwellers of Malta that came from nearby island of Sicily. Nevertheless, such theories cannot be proven and Kalkaras early history will remain largely unknown, the Christian era in Kalkara presumably began with the construction of the Palaeochristian hypogea in the zone known as Xagħra ta Santa Duminka situated in its parish boundary. In them, the first Christian cults began to be performed, the name given to this village, Kalkara, comes from the Latin word calce literally meaning lime, the reason for this being that in this locality lime-kilns were usually found. Thus, its motto is A Calce Nomen, the emblem is a green scutcheon, divided into two parts, half being blue representing the sea, and the other being gold with a burning flame. The population slowly increased and in the 19th and 20th century Kalkara developed into a small yet charming seaside resort while its waterfront, some of these houses, especially along the waterfront, are more elaborate than others and include three or four floors and also intricate stone carvings. This increase in population led to the elevation of Kalkara to an independent parish from Vittoriosa in 1897, although not strategically important in itself, Kalkara bore the brunt of World War II due to its close proximity to Cottonera and its Drydocks. The first parish church, which was located close to the present parish church, was destroyed during an air attack on 10 April 1942. Following the gaining of Independence by Malta in 1964, the country witnessed a period of high development and construction. Nevertheless, Kalkara still retains a charming and quiet atmosphere and constantly features in many paintings, Kalkara is located on the eastern coast of Malta and forms part of the inner harbour area of the Grand Harbour. It occupies the area around Kalkara Creek and extends to both sides around the creek. Rinella Bay, the sandy beach in the Grand Harbour, is found at the mouth of the Rinella valley. Kalkara is one of the few localities within the Grand Harbour area that still has large open spaces that naturally divide it from other towns. The town is bordered by the cities of Birgu and Żabbar, Band Clubs Circolo San Giuseppe Filarmonika Sagra Familja A. D1897 St. Joseph Band Club A. D. The given reason was that through being demolished, it would not provide any shelter for the invading Turks, in 1580, Claudio Abela and Davidde Burlò received permission from the Grand Master La Cassiere to build a chapel in the same site where the mentioned chapel stood. In this chapel, bailiff Fra Giovanni Bichi, nephew of Pope Alexander VII, was buried in 1676 after having died due to the plague, meanwhile, in 1680 this chapel was again rebuilt, this time to the design of the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà
12.
Labour Party (Malta)
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The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Malta. Along with the Nationalist Party, the Labour Party is one of two major political parties in Malta. It is the party in the Maltese House of Representatives following its victory over the Nationalist Party in the March 2013 general election. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists, the General Conference is largely made up of delegates from the Partys other constituent structures and is the Partys highest organ. The National Executive brings together the Party Administration as well as elected representatives of other constituent structures, the Party Congress is made up of all members of the Party and elects the Leader and the two Deputy Leaders and determines the Partys broad policy outlines. The Party Administration is made of the Party Leader, Deputy Leaders, the Parliamentary Group and the Councillors Section bring together the Partys elected representatives in parliament and local councils. The Party is organised geographically in the committees and district. Finally, the Branches of the Party include the womens, youth, senior, although not formally part of the Partys structures, the PL owns a number of media and communication outlets. The Labour Party was founded as the Chamber of Labour in 1921 by one of the union affiliated with the Imperial Government Workers Union. Band clubs and other organisations were invited to send delegates to the Partys founding meeting on 15 March 1921, significantly, led by Colonel William Savona, the Party contested the general elections held in 1921 and 1924 under the new Constitution that gave the country a measure of self-government. The Labour-Constitutional alliance won the 1927 general elections, but Labour lost ground, gaining 13. 9% of votes, Labour leader Savona was not elected, and the leadership of the Labour parliamentary group was temporarily entrusted to Colonel Michael Dundon. The Presidency of the Party and leadership of the group was taken up by Paul Boffa later that year. Labour gained nine seats out of ten in the elections held during November,1945, in which, contrarily to previous elections, the Partys electoral programme, for the first time in Labours history, did not make any reference to religion. However, Labour deputies resigned from their posts in July 1946 due to mass redundancies at the Dockyards, in the meantime, the MacMichael Constitution had been introduced, granting self-government to the Maltese. Labours participation in the subsequent October,1947 elections was again supported by the General Workers Union. The Party won 59. 9% of the vote and twenty-four seats out of the possible forty within the Legislative Assembly, Paul Boffa became Prime Minister whilst Dom Mintoff became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reconstruction. The Labour Government introduced Income Tax and Social Services for the first time in Malta, the Labour Party was re-founded in 1949 as a successor to the Labour Party founded in 1921. Boffa formed the Malta Workers Party while Mintoff re-organized the Labour Party as the Malta Labour Party, the Malta Labour Party contested its first elections for the Malta Legislative Assembly the following year
13.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
14.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
15.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
16.
Religion in Malta
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The predominant religion in Malta is Roman Catholicism. The Constitution of Malta establishes Catholicism as the religion and it is also reflected in various elements of Maltese culture. Maltas patron saints are St Paul, St Publius and St Agatha, the Assumption of Mary known as Santa Marija is the Special patron of the Maltese Islands. This means that if the provisions of article 2 and are in conflict with the rights guaranteed under article 40, with regards to religious instruction in public schools for example, students may opt to decline participation in Catholic religious lessons. Malta was the last European country to introduce divorce in October 2011 after voting in a referendum on the earlier in the year. Furthermore, Malta has also repealed vilification of religion as a crime in July 2016, abortion is illegal in all circumstances. Over the years some loopholes permitted individuals to circumvent the ban for limited time periods, according to a Eurobarometer Poll held in 2005, 95% of respondents from Malta said that they believe there is a God. In a report published in 2006, it was reported that 52. 6% of Maltese attended Sunday mass in 2005, hence, Sunday mass attendance has dropped annually by 1% since 1982. According to Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Sunday mass attendance dropped further to roughly 40% by 2015, zghazagh Azzjoni Kattolika, Catholic children and youth organization, member of Fimcap Pope John Paul II made three pastoral visits to Malta, twice in 1990 and once in 2001. In his last visit he beatified three Maltese, George Preca, Nazju Falzon and Adeodata Pisani, in April 2010, Pope Benedict XVI also visited Malta in the celebration of the anniversary of 1950 years of the shipwreck of Paul in Malta. Most congregants at the local Protestant churches are not Maltese, many British retirees live in the country, in 2008, the seven congregations of Jehovahs Witnesses reported 569 active adherents, with an annual Memorial attendance of 1120. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Bible Baptist Church, the Evangelical Alliance of Malta has seven churches and two organizations that are affiliated, with about 400 members between them. There is one Greek Catholic church, which also hosts Russian Orthodox services a few times a year, there are nearly 100 Hindu families in Malta that practise their own Hindu religion. There is one Muslim mosque and a Muslim faith school, of the estimated 3,000 Muslims in Malta, approximately 2,250 are foreigners, approximately 600 are naturalized citizens, and approximately 150 are native-born Maltese. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is also present, zen Buddhism and the Baháí Faith also have about 40 members
17.
Saint Lawrence
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The martyrs St Orencio and St Paciencia are traditionally held to have been his parents. He encountered the future Pope St Sixtus II, who was of Greek origin and one of the most famous and highly esteemed teachers, eventually, both left Spain for Rome. When Sixtus became the Pope in 257, he ordained St Lawrence as a deacon and he is therefore called archdeacon of Rome, a position of great trust that included the care of the treasury and riches of the Church and the distribution of alms to the indigent. At the beginning of August 258, the Emperor Valerian issued an edict that all bishops, priests, Pope St Sixtus II was captured on 6 August 258, at the cemetery of St Callixtus while celebrating the liturgy and executed forthwith. After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that St Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church, St Ambrose is the earliest source for the narrative that St Lawrence asked for three days to gather the wealth. He worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the indigent as possible, one account records him declaring to the prefect, The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor. This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom and can be compared to the parallel Roman tale of the jewels of Cornelia, on 10 August, St Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, and therefore, the ranking Church official, suffered a martyrs death. The Almanac of Philocalus for AD354 states that he was buried in the Catacomb of Cyriaca on the Via Tiburtina by Hippolytus and Justin the Confessor, one of the early sources for his martyrdom was the description of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens in his Peristephanon, Hymn 2. A famous legend has persisted from ancient times, as deacon in Rome, St Lawrence was responsible for the material goods of the Church and the distribution of alms to the poor. St Ambrose of Milan relates that when the treasures of the Church were demanded of St Lawrence by the Prefect of Rome, he brought forward the poor, to whom he had distributed the treasure as alms. Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you, to which I will add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the Churchs crown. The Prefect was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared with hot coals beneath it, after the martyr had suffered pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared, Im well done. From this derives his patronage of cooks, chefs, and comedians, Emperor Constantine I is traditionally held to have erected a small oratory in honour of St Lawrence, which was a station on the itineraries of the graves of the Roman martyrs by the seventh century. Pope Damasus I rebuilt or repaired the church, now the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, the gridiron of the martyrdom was placed by Pope Paschal II in the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina. Lawrence in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum, Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs, the life and miracles of St Lawrence were collected in The Acts of St Lawrence but those writings have been lost. The earliest existing documentation of miracles associated with him is in the writings of St Gregory of Tours, sanctulus was rebuilding a church of St Lawrence, which had been attacked and burnt, and hired many workmen to accomplish the job. At one point during the construction, he himself with nothing to feed them. He prayed to St Lawrence for help, and looking in his basket he found a fresh and it seemed to him too small to feed the workmen, but in faith he began to serve it to the men
18.
Saint Dominic
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Saint Dominic, also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán, was a Castilian priest and founder of the Dominican Order. Dominic is the saint of astronomers. Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain and he was named after Saint Dominic of Silos, who is said to be the patron saint of hopeful mothers. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few north of Caleruega. In the earliest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominics parents are named Felix Guzman and Juanna of Aza. This story drew resonance from the fact that his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, Dominicanus in Latin which a play on words interpreted as Domini canis, Dog of the Lord. Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and an uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Orders early years, a later source, still of the 13th century, also gives their names as Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominics birth, a local author asserted that Dominics father was vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo. The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439, states that Dominics father belonged to the family de Guzmán, Dominics mother, Jane of Aza, was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1828. Dominic was educated in the schools of Palencia where he devoted six years to the arts, in 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine, young Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry. Dominic reportedly told his fellow students, Would you have me study off these dead skins. In 1194, around age twenty-five, Dominic joined the Canons Regular in the canonry in the Cathedral of Osma, following the rule of Saint Augustine. In 1203 or 1204 he accompanied Diego de Acebo, the Bishop of Osma, on a mission for Alfonso VIII, King of Castile. The envoys traveled to Denmark via Aragon and the south of France, the marriage negotiations ended successfully, but the princess died before leaving for Castile. However, even Dominic managed only a few converts among the Cathari, in 1215, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident of Toulouse. He subjected himself and his companions to the rules of prayer and penance. In the same year, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of the Pope, Innocent III
19.
Maltese language
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Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, the variety of Arabic that developed in Sicily and was later introduced to Malta, between the end of the ninth century and the end of the twelfth century. Maltese is a branch of Arabic because it has evolved independently of Literary Arabic into a standardized language over the past 800 years in a gradual process of Latinisation. About half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian, the original Semitic base comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary, and typically includes words that denote basic ideas and the function words. Maltese has always written in the Latin script, the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages. The Norman conquest in 1090, followed by the expulsion of the Muslims permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, in contrast to Sicily, the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934. The first written reference to the Maltese language is in a will of 1436, the oldest known document in Maltese is Il Cantilena by Pietru Caxaro. It dates from the 15th century, the earliest known Maltese dictionary was a sixteenth-century manuscript entitled Maltese-Italiano, it was included in the Biblioteca Maltese of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost. The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1934, alongside English, when Italian was dropped from official use. In 1975, there were an estimated 371,000 Maltese speakers, today, the core vocabulary is Semitic, with large numbers of loanwords. Because of the Sicilian influence on Siculo Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and is most commonly described as a language with a number of loanwords. Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced, voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters, thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e. g. /niktbu/ is realised we write. Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and voiceless stops have no audible release, gemination is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel, some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters. The two nasals /m/ and /n/ assimilate for place of articulation in clusters, /t/ and /d/ are usually dental, whereas /t͡s d͡z s z n r l/ are all alveolar. /t͡s d͡z/ are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length, /d͡z/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords, e. g. /ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/ newspaper and /tɛlɛˈviʒin/ television. The pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ is velar or glottal for some speakers, stress is generally on the penultimate syllable, unless some other syllable is heavy, or unless a stress-shifting suffix is added. When two syllables are heavy, the penultimate takes the stress, but otherwise the heavier syllable does. Many Classical Arabic consonants underwent mergers and modifications in Maltese, The modern system of Maltese orthography was introduced in 1924, the first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese governments printing press
20.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
21.
Fortifications of Birgu
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The fortifications of Birgu are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround the city of Birgu, Malta. The first fortification to be built was Fort Saint Angelo in the Middle Ages, most of the fortifications remain largely intact today. Birgus fortifications have been on Maltas tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998, the first fortification to be built in Birgu was the Castrum Maris. It is popularly attributed to have built by the Arabs in around 870. In 1526, the Order of Saint John sent a commission of 8 knights to inspect the island of Malta and they described Birgu as a small defenceless town, with its only fortification being the obsolete and partially ruined Castrum Maris. The Order eventually moved to Malta in 1530 and established itself in Birgu, the first modifications were made to the Castrum Maris, which became Fort Saint Angelo and was used as the Grand Masters residence. Later on, the town began to be surrounded by walls. Birgus land front was built by 1540, in 1551, Ottomans attempted to attack Birgu but turned back once they saw the new defences. They attacked again with a larger force fourteen years later in 1565. The siege, which known as the Great Siege of Malta. After the Great Siege, Birgus fortifications were repaired, but soon lost most of their importance as the Order moved to its new capital Valletta, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Santa Margherita Lines and the Cottonera Lines were built around Birgus and Sengleas land fronts. These new lines increased the strength of the position. Birgus fortifications were rebuilt in the 18th century, under the direction of the architect Charles François de Mondion. On 18 July 1806, a magazine in Birgu exploded. The fortifications of Birgu were included on the Antiquities List of 1925, the first plans to restore the fortifications of Birgu were made in 2006, as part of a project that would also involve restoration of the fortifications of Valletta, Mdina and the Cittadella. Restoration of Birgus fortifications began in January 2008, and is currently ongoing, during the course of restoration work, a bastion that had been built just before the siege of 1565 as well as an 18th-century caponier were discovered. A 20th-century naval oil depot near the Post of Castile was demolished in 2010 to reveal the view of the bastions, Birgus ditch was opened to the public as a recreational area in January 2016. The recreational area includes the 18th-century caponier, which was restored and partially reconstructed, the present layout dates back to a major reconstruction by Flemish architect Carlos de Grunenbergh in the 1690s
22.
Grand Harbour
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The Grand Harbour, also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times, the natural harbour has been greatly improved with extensive docks and wharves, and has been massively fortified. The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by Saint Elmo Point and its north west shore is formed by the Sciberras peninsula, which is largely covered by the city of Valletta and its suburb Floriana. This peninsula also divides Grand Harbour from a second parallel natural harbour, the main waterway of Grand Harbour continues inland almost to Marsa. The harbour has been described as Maltas greatest geographic asset, with its partner harbour of Marsamxett, Grand Harbour lies at the centre of gently rising ground. Development has grown up all around the harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large conurbation. Much of Maltas population lives within a three kilometer radius of Floriana and this is now one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. The harbours and the surrounding areas make up Maltas Northern and Southern Harbour Districts, together, these districts contain 27 of 68 local councils. They have a population of 213,722 which make up over 47% of the population of the Maltese islands. The Maltese islands have a history, mainly due to its strategic location and natural harbours. The Grand Harbour has in fact been used since prehistoric times, megalithic remains have been found on the shores of the Grand Harbour. The Kordin Temples, the earliest of which date back to around 3700 BC, another megalithic structure possibly existed underwater off Fort Saint Angelo, but this can no longer be seen. Punic and Roman remains were found on the shores of the harbour. By the 12th and 13th centuries, the Castrum Maris had been built in what is now Birgu and it might have been built instead of ancient buildings, possibly Phoenician or Roman temples, or an Arab fortress. In 1283, the Battle of Malta was fought at the entrance of the Grand Harbour, aragonese forces defeated a larger Angevin force and captured 10 galleys. The Grand Harbour was the base for the Order of Saint John for 268 years and they settled in the city of Birgu and improved its fortifications, including rebuilding the Castrum Maris as Fort Saint Angelo. In July 1551, Barbary corsairs and Ottoman forces raided Malta and they landed at Marsamxett and marched upon the Grand Harbour, but did not attack as they found the town of Birgu too well fortified to attack. Although this attempt was unsuccessful, the Ottoman force later managed to sack Gozo, after the attack, Fort Saint Elmo and Fort Saint Michael were built to better protect the harbour in any future attacks
23.
Valletta
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Valletta is the capital city of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. The historical city has a population of 6,444, while the area around it has a population of 393,938. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe and the second southernmost capital of the European Union after Nicosia, Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John also known as Knights Hospitaller. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980, the official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas Valletta—The Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The building of a city on the Sciberras Peninsula, originally called Xaghriet Mewwija, had proposed by the Order of Saint John as early as 1524. Back then, the building on the peninsula was a small watchtower dedicated to Erasmus of Formia. In 1552, the watchtower was demolished and the larger Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place, in the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Orders position in Malta, the city took his name and was called La Valletta. The Grand Master asked the European kings and princes for help, pope Pius V sent his military architect, Francesco Laparelli, to design the new city, while Philip II of Spain sent substantial monetary aid. The foundation stone of the city was laid by Grand Master de Valette on 28 March 1566 and he placed the first stone in what later became Our Lady of Victories Church. De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74, originally interred in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, his remains now rest in St. Johns Co-Cathedral among the tombs of other Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta. Francesco Laparelli was the principal designer and his plan departed from medieval Maltese architecture. He designed the new city on a grid plan. The streets were designed to be wide and straight, beginning centrally from the City Gate and ending at Fort Saint Elmo overlooking the Mediterranean and his assistant was the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, later oversaw the construction of the city himself after Laparellis death in 1570. The Ufficio delle Case regulated the building of the city as a planning authority, seven Auberges were built for the Orders Langues, and these were complete by the 1580s. An eighth Auberge, Auberge de Bavière, was added in the 18th century. During António Manoel de Vilhenas reign, a town began to form between the walls of Valletta and the Floriana Lines, and this evolved from a suburb of Valletta to Floriana, a town in its own right. In 1749, Muslim slaves plotted to kill Grandmaster Pinto and take over Valletta, in 1798, the Order left the islands and the French occupation of Malta began
24.
Knights Hospitaller
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It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, in 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital, in 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and it was served by the Order of Saint Benedict. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem, under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character. Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organised a militia from the orders members, in 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land, frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins deal only with the service of the sick, the order numbered three distinct classes of membership, the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV approved a military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour, they wore a red surcoat with a cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars, at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers, the property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies. As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England, as a result, buildings such as St Johns Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after four years of campaigning
25.
Great Siege of Malta
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The Great Siege of Malta took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire tried to invade the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The Knights, with approximately 2,000 footsoldiers and 400 Maltese men, women and children, withstood the siege and this victory became one of the most celebrated events in sixteenth-century Europe. By the end of 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Sultan, had ejected the Knights from their base on Rhodes after the six-month Siege of Rhodes. From 1523 to 1530 the Order lacked a permanent home, charles also required the Knights to garrison Tripoli on the North African coast, which was in territory that the Barbary Corsairs, allies of the Ottomans, controlled. The Knights accepted the offer reluctantly, Malta was a small, desolate island, and for some time, many of the Knights clung to the dream of recapturing Rhodes. Nevertheless, the Order soon turned Malta into a naval base, in particular, the corsair Dragut was proving to be a major threat to the Christian nations of the central Mediterranean. Dragut and the Knights were continually at loggerheads, in 1551, Dragut and the Ottoman admiral Sinan decided to take Malta and invaded the island with a force of about 10,000 men. After only a few days, however, Dragut broke off the siege and moved to the island of Gozo. The Knights governor on Gozo, Gelatian de Sessa, having decided that resistance was futile, the corsairs sacked the town and took virtually the entire population of Gozo into captivity. Dragut and Sinan then sailed south to Tripoli, where they seized the Knights garrison there. They initially installed a leader, Aga Morat, as governor. The two new forts were built in the short period of six months in 1552. All three forts proved crucial during the Great Siege, the next several years were relatively calm, although the guerre de course, or running battle, between Muslims and Christians continued unabated. In 1557 the Knights elected Jean Parisot de Valette Grand Master of the Order and he continued his raids on non-Christian shipping, and his private vessels are known to have taken some 3,000 Muslim and Jewish slaves during his tenure as Grand Master. The Knights joined the expedition, which consisted of about 54 galleys and 14,000 men, the battle was a disaster for the Christians and it marked the high point of Ottoman domination of the Mediterranean. After Djerba there could be little doubt that the Turks would eventually attack Malta again, in August 1560, Jean de Valette sent an order to all the Orders priories that their knights prepare to return to Malta as soon as a citazione was issued. The Turks made an error in not attacking at once, while the Spanish fleet lay in ruins. Meanwhile, the Spaniards continued to prey on Turkish shipping, romegas exploits gave the Turks a casus belli, and by the end of 1564, Suleiman had resolved to wipe the Knights of Malta off the face of the earth
26.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
27.
Mdina
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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 islands capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city was founded as Maleth in around the 8th century BC by Phoenician settlers, ancient Melite was larger than present-day Mdina, and it was reduced to its present size during the Byzantine or Arab occupation of Malta. During the latter period, the city adopted its present name, the city remained the capital of Malta throughout the Middle Ages, until the arrival of the Order of St. John in 1530, when Birgu became the administrative centre of the island. Mdina experienced a period of decline over the centuries, although it saw a revival in the early 18th century. At this point, it acquired several Baroque features, although it did not lose its medieval character, Mdina is on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it is now one of the main tourist attractions in Malta. The plateau on which Mdina is built has been inhabited since prehistory, the Phoenicians colonized Malta in around the 8th century BC, and they founded the city of Maleth on this plateau. It was taken over by the Roman Republic in 218 BC, the Punic-Roman city was about three times the size of present-day Mdina, extending into a large part of modern Rabat. According to the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul the Apostle was shipwrecked on Malta in 60 AD, he was greeted by Publius, the governor of Melite, and he cured his sick father. According to tradition, the population of Melite converted to Christianity, apart from unfounded interpretation of the bible, there is no proof of this and has been dismissed by historians who seek proof rather than faith alone. Very few remains of the Punic-Roman city survive today, the most significant are the ruins of the Domvs Romana, in which several well-preserved mosaics, statues and other remains were discovered. Remains of the podium of a Temple of Apollo, fragments of the city walls, at some point following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a retrenchment was built within the city, reducing it to its present size. This was done to make the citys perimeter more easily defensible, in 870, Byzantine Melite, which was ruled by governor Amros, was besieged by Aghlabids led by Halaf al-Hādim. He was killed in the fighting, and Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad was sent from Sicily to continue the following his death. The duration of the siege is unknown, but it lasted for some weeks or months. After Melite fell to the invaders, the inhabitants were massacred, marble from Melites churches was used to build the castle of Sousse. According to Al-Himyarī, Malta remained almost uninhabited until it was resettled in 1048 or 1049 by a Muslim community and their slaves, the layout of the new city was completely different to that of ancient Melite. Mdina still has features typical of a medina, a legacy of the period of Arab rule, the Byzantines besieged Medina in 1053–54, but were repelled by its defenders. A castle known as the Castellu di la Chitati was built on the southeast corner of the city near the main entrance, the population of Malta during the fifteenth century was about 10,000, with town life limited to Mdina, Birgu and the Gozo Citadel
28.
Jean Parisot de Valette
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Fra Jean Parisot de Valette was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the Langue de Provence, Grandmaster La Valette did not live to see Valletta completed as he died at the age of 74 and was followed by Grandmaster Pietro De Monte. Jean Parisots grandfather, Bernard de Valette, was a Knight and Kings Orderly, Jean Parisot was a distant cousin of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, first Duke of Épernon. In his history of the Order of St. Little else is known about de Valettes early life, De Valette joined the Order when he was 20 years old in around 1514, and he never returned to France or his family estates from that day on. After the loss of Rhodes, the Order was granted the Maltese Islands, in 1537 Valette became Governor of Tripoli, where he tried to restore order within the vulnerable city. In 1538 he was imprisoned in the Gozo prison for 4 months after attacking a man, in 1541 Valette was involved in a naval battle against Abd-ur-Rahman Kust Aly, in which he was wounded and his galley, the San Giovanni, was captured. De Valette was taken as a slave for a year by Barbary pirates under the command of Turgut Reis but was later freed during an exchange of prisoners. In 1554 he was elected Captain General of the Orders galleys and this was a great honour to the Langue of Provence, as throughout most of the Orders history, the position of Grand Admiral was usually held by a Knight Grand Cross of the Italian Langue. In fact both sides had extremely talented sailors, De Valette was described by Abbe de Branthome as being a very handsome man, speaking several languages fluently including Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic and Turkish. In 1557, upon the death of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, in 1560 he formed an alliance with the Habsburg Empire to reconquer Tripoli, but the expedition resulted in a Christian defeat at the Battle of Djerba. Despite this the Orders galleys were able to rescue several other Christian vessels, and later on in his reign, De Valette greatly strengthened the Orders navy. The battle saw the fall of Fort St. Elmo after about a month of fighting, but the Order managed to hold out in Birgu and Senglea until a relief force arrived. As a result of the Orders victory he gained much prestige in Europe and this has been attributed to his sense of modesty and his humility as a warrior monk. After the great siege, he commissioned the construction of the new city of Valletta in 1566, Valletta remains the Maltese capital to this day. De Valette suffered a stroke while praying in a chapel and died soon after on 21 August 1568, De Valette never saw the completed city of Valletta. His tomb can be found in the Crypt of the Conventual Church of the Order, documentary evidence has been found by Bonello that proves Barthélemy was legitimatized in 1568 by a decree of King Charles IX of France. Claims have also put forth that de Valette had at least another daughter, Isabella Guasconi. Isabella later married a Florentine gentleman Stefano Buonaccorsi, but he murdered her on 31 July 1568, after the murder Buonaccorsi escaped the islands with Isabellas wealth and was never heard from again
29.
French occupation of Malta
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The French occupation of Malta lasted from 1798 to 1800. It was established when the Order of Saint John surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798, the most aesthetic feature of the French occupation is probably the defacement of most coat-of-arms on the façades of buildings of the knights. On 19 May 1798, a French fleet sailed from Toulon, the force was destined for Egypt, Bonaparte seeking to expand French influence in Asia and force Britain to make peace in the French Revolutionary Wars, which had begun in 1792. Sailing southeast, the convoy collected additional transports from Italian ports, at this time, Malta and its neighbouring islands were ruled by the Order of Saint John, an old and influential feudal order weakened by the loss of most of their revenue during the French Revolution. The French Knights deserted the order, and the remaining Knights failed to mount a meaningful resistance, approximately 2,000 native Maltese militia resisted for 24 hours, retreating to Valletta once the city of Mdina fell to General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. Bonaparte then established a French garrison on the islands, leaving 4,000 men under Vaubois while he, during Napoleons short stay in Malta, he stayed in Palazzo Parisio in Valletta. He implemented a number of reforms which were based on the principles of the French Revolution and these reforms could be divided into four main categories, The people of Malta were granted equality before the law, and they were regarded as French citizens. The Maltese nobility was abolished, and slaves were freed, freedom of speech and the press were granted, although the only newspaper was Journal de Malta, which was published by the government. Political prisoners including Mikiel Anton Vassalli and those who took part in the Rising of the Priests were released, all of the Orders property was surrendered to the French Government. A Commission of Government was set up to rule the islands, each was run by a president, secretary and four members, A National Guard was also set up, with 900 men. Primary schools were to be set up in the towns and villages. The University of Malta was to be renamed Polytecnique, and scientific subjects were to be taught there, however, none of these reforms were actually implemented due to the short duration of French rule. The churchs extensive property on Malta was taken over by the Government, the Inquisition was also abolished, and the last inquisitor was expelled from the islands. Later on, French troops began to loot church property, the French rapidly dismantled the institutions of the Knights of St. John, including the Roman Catholic Church, and the Maltese people were not happy about this. There were economic problems and the French government did not pay wages or pensions anymore, Church property was looted and seized to pay for the expedition to Egypt, an act that generated considerable anger among the deeply religious Maltese population. Valletta was surrounded by approximately 10,000 irregular Maltese soldiers led by Emmanuele Vitale and Canon Francesco Saverio Caruana, the Maltese built siege fortifications surrounding the harbour area to bombard French positions. Help from Britain arrived later in the year and, in 1799, the French garrison in Valletta finally capitulated to the British on 4 September 1800, and Malta became a British Protectorate. The French surrendered on 5 September of that year, the British transferred the island to the locals that day, and it was administered by Archpriest Saverio Cassar on behalf of Ferdinand III of Sicily
30.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
31.
Malta Protectorate
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Malta Protectorate was the political term for Malta when it was officially part of the Kingdom of Sicily but under British protection. This protectorate happened between the capitulation of the French forces in Malta in 1800 and the transformation of the islands to a colony in 1813. During the Maltese uprising against the French, the Maltese people formed a National Assembly as a provisional government. Messengers were sent to the British fleet in Sicily for help, in October Sir Alexander Ball arrived in Malta, and a year later he was appointed as Civil Commissioner. The French garrison under General Vaubois had been driven to Valletta, Malta therefore became a British Protectorate. In August 1801, the Civil Commissioner, Charles Cameron, appointed Emmanuel Vitale as Governor of Gozo instead of Saverio Cassar and this effectively brought an end to Gozos independence as la Nazione Gozitana. By the Declaration they also proclaimed that Malta should be self-governing while under British protection, politically, Lampedusa was also part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The British considered taking over Lampedusa as a base instead of Malta. In 1803, some Maltese farmers settled on Lampedusa with cattle and sheep, in 1810, Salvatore Gatt transferred the lease to Alexander Fernandez, the British Commissariat, and the latter attempted to create a large Maltese colony on the island. This never materialized as a Royal Commission in 1812 stated that this was just a business venture, further problems arose when the plague devastated Malta in 1813-1814, and on 25 September 1814, Sir Thomas Maitland withdrew British troops from Lampedusa. Fernandez remained proprietor of the island until 1818, when Gatt returned and remained there with his family up to 1824, in 1813 the island was transformed into a British crown colony by the Bathurst Constitution. On 23 July Sir Thomas Maitland replaced Sir Hildebrand Oakes and was the first Civil Commissioner to be given the title of Governor, Malta officially became a colony by the Treaty of Paris in 1814
32.
Mediterranean Fleet
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The British Mediterranean Fleet was part of the Royal Navy. The first Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean Fleet may have named as early as 1665. Though the British had maintained a presence in the Mediterranean before. The British also used Port Mahon, on the island of Minorca, however, British control there was only temporary, Minorca changed hands numerous times, and was permanently ceded to Spain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. In 1800, the British took Malta, which was to be handed over to the Knights of Malta under the Treaty of Amiens, when the Napoleonic Wars resumed in 1803, the British kept Malta for use as a naval base. Following Napoleons defeat, the British continued their presence in Malta, victoria sank within fifteen minutes, taking 358 crew with her. Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, was among the dead, of the three original Invincible-class battlecruisers which entered service in the first half of 1908, two joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1914. They and Indefatigable formed the nucleus of the fleet at the start of the First World War when British forces pursued the German ships Goeben, a recently modernised Warspite became the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief and Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1926. Malta, as part of the British Empire from 1814, was a station and was the headquarters for the Mediterranean Fleet until the mid-1930s. Due to the threat of air-attack from the Italian mainland. In 1940, the Mediterranean Fleet carried out an aircraft carrier attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto by air. Other major actions included the Battle of Cape Matapan and the Battle of Crete, the Fleet had to block Italian and later German reinforcements and supplies for the North African Campaign. In October 1946, Saumarez hit a mine in the Corfu Channel, the channel was cleared in Operation Recoil the next month, involving 11 minesweepers under the guidance of Ocean, two cruisers, three destroyers, and three frigates. In May 1948, Sir Arthur Power took over as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, when later that year Britain pulled out of the British Mandate of Palestine, Ocean, four destroyers, and two frigates escorted the departing High Commissioner, aboard the cruiser Euryalus. The force stayed to cover the evacuation of British troops into the Haifa enclave, when a NATO naval commander, Admiral Robert B. Carney, C-in-C Allied Forces Southern Europe, was appointed, relations with the incumbent British C-in-C, in 1956, ships of the fleet, together with the French Navy, took part in the Suez War against Egypt. In this capacity, he had to employ considerable diplomatic skill to good relations with Dom Mintoff. Eric Groves, in Vanguard to Trident, details how by the mid-1960s the permanent strength of the Fleet was reduced to a small escort squadron
33.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
34.
Malta Dockyard
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Malta Dockyard was an important naval base in the Grand Harbour in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The Knights of Malta established dockyard facilities within the Grand Harbour to maintain their fleet of galleys and these were spread between the cities of Senglea, Valletta and Vittoriosa. When Malta became a British protectorate in 1800, these facilities were inherited, with the loss of Minorca, Malta swiftly became the Navys principal Mediterranean base. The Royal Navy Dockyard was initially located around Dockyard Creek, begun in 1844, the dry dock was opened in 1847, ten years later it was extended to form a double dock. Allegedly, marble blocks from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, were used for the construction of these docks, in the second half of the century the steam factory with its machine shops and foundries was expanded. It was an important supply base during the First World War, in January 1941 sixty German dive bombers made a massed attack on the dockyard in an attempt to destroy the damaged British aircraft carrier Illustrious, but she received only one bomb hit. Incessant German and Italian bombing raids targeted Malta through March, opposed by only a handful of British fighters, the dockyard was handed over to Baileys, a civilian firm of ship repairers and marine engineers, in 1959. After Baileys were dispossessed by the Maltese Government the dockyard was closed as a naval base and it was then managed by a workers council between 1987 and 1996 repairing civilian ships. The dockyard was managed by a Resident Commissioner until the Resident Commissioners at all dockyards were replaced by Admirals Superintendent at the end of 1831
Malta
Saint-Tropez, France[20][21]
