Birgu, Malta

To the Conquest of the Victorious City


victoriosa-birgu-malta-birgu-waterfront
Church of Saint Lawrence
lost in history
Encounter under the Laburist Partit
Travel from Dghjasa
victorious-birgu-malta-staircase-shape
victorious-birgu-malta-statue-sao-lourenco
Bronze Triumph
Fort San Angelo
MDCCXXII
Vittoriosa, ex-Birgu
The Marina of Birgu II
The Marina of Birgu
Victorious Malta
xylitla-huasteca-potosina-san-luis-potosi-frame-grilled
Vittoriosa is the oldest of the Three Cities of Malta, headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller and, from 1530 to 1571, its capital. The resistance he offered to the Ottomans in the Great Siege of Malta kept the island Christian. Even if, later, Valletta took over the administrative and political role, the old Birgu shines with historic glory.

We wandered through Malta's yellow past. An unexpected foray into Misrah ir Rbha square in Vittoriosa reveals a delightful fusion of the island's temporal dimensions.

Three kids dressed in Maltese football club equipment appear from different corners.

At the time they had agreed or were used to, they greet each other, talk a little.

They end up sitting down, snuggled against one of the burgundy doors of one of the centuries-old buildings.

Above them, the image of a young woman seems to contemplate Malta's future.

It appears highlighted, in a poster, over the sign of the local headquarters of the Partit Laburista and the lit torch that serves as a symbol.

More towards the middle of the square, a white statue, tiny compared to the pedestal that supports it, holds a cross.

The figure honors Saint Lourenço, patron of Birgu and also of island of gozo.

A sequence of ramps and stairs takes us closer to the Birgu Waterfront, even before, to the church of São Lourenço, one of the main Catholic temples on the peninsula.

Along with that of the Annunciation that projects from its middle, overlooking the whole of the houses.

As we walk through the alleys and alleys that separate them, we witness the fusion of the city's day-to-day life with the intruder of tourist visitors.

A couple in light and light clothes, ideal for Malta's summer heat, study, in any book or guide, the context of the scenery that dazzles them.

As they do so, a priest, still clad in his cassock, passes from a dark corner to the sunny road that leads to the square.

Shortly after, another, in a dark habit, emerges from the sun. Disappear into the growing shadow and winding meanders of history, between Birgu and Vittoriosa.

The Yellowed and Holy Scenes of the Hospitaller Knights

If it weren't for the tourists and the almost immaculate cleanliness of the city, this play of light and darkness could almost take place in the Medieval Age and in the following centuries when the Knights Hospitaller took over the island.

The Inquisitor's Palace continues just two streets above the church of São Lourenço, others both below the Armory of the Knights of Malta. It is one of the few palaces used by the Inquisition still intact in both Europe and South America.

In Malta, it was inhabited and used for five centuries. Since, in 1574, Monsignor Pietro Dusina arrived from Italy, newly appointed the apostolic delegate and the first inquisitor of Malta.

Until the middle of the XNUMXth century, successive residents made an effort to improve and make the previously vacant palace into a dignified and welcoming residence.

There we find an open kitchen area.

And, on the first floor, the rooms and other sophisticated private areas. As it was supposed, these personal and humanized spaces coexisted with the Holy Office, the dungeons and the torture room.

We rummaged through them, curious as ever about the strange collusion of life and death, or at least the death sentence, far more dazzled and entertained than when we circled the Malta Maritime Museum, also located on the Birgu Waterfront.

There, we are especially excited about the models of warships used by the Knights of São João.

From Vittoriosa to Cospicua, and back to Birgu

If the museum exhibits and explains Malta's floating past, from its battles against North African pirates to World War II, the sub-arm of the sea in front welcomes dozens of embarked lives today.

Malta has several marinas, four of them around Valletta and their cities.

The largest are Msida – northwest of the peninsula on which the capital developed. And that of Birgu, situated between Vittoriosa and her “sister” Senglea, in one of the several recesses perpendicular to the island's Grand Harbour.

As we walk along the Xatt Il-Forn and Xatt ir-Rizq waterfront, we pass the moored vessels, from huge multi-million dollar yachts to small speedboats and sailboats, more conducive to a peaceful Mediterranean.

The further we go to the bottom of the secondary inlet and the marina, the more the boats' draft decreases.

At the Normal Bridge, the inlet narrows again to the Bormla channel.

In its terrestrial extension, a golden statue of the Madonna, (Our Lady, not the Louise Ciccone of “Like a Virgin”), blesses the other of the Three Cities that, without knowing how, we had already entered: Cospicua.

We reversed course, towards the opposite end of the peninsula and Birgu, the one enclosed by the Fort of St. Angelo.

The Entry into Malta of the Order of Saint John of the Knights Hospitaller

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, as they were called in full, settled in Malta in 1530, after the increasingly powerful Ottoman Empire expelled it from the island of Rhodes.

Malta was one of the territories that the Spanish Emperor Charles V granted to the Hospitallers, along with the island of Gozo and the city, today Libya, of Tripoli.

Even before taking control of the island, in 1526, the Hospitallers sent a delegation of eight knights representing each of its administrative divisions, identified as Tongues.

When they arrived, despite the fact that the local population was basic and difficult to defend, they decided to build the capital of Malta there.

Mdina, then, had satisfactory fortifications. However, it was situated in the interior of the island, which nullified the naval power that the Knights Hospitallers increasingly required.

On the other hand, the Hospitallers knew that the Ottomans would not give up on annihilating them.

They fortified Birgu to the height of that notion.

In place of the old Castrum Maris, they built Saint Angelo Castle. They separated it from the village with a narrow channel that could only be crossed by a drawbridge.

Once finished, they decided that the castle would be the fortified apartment of the Grand Master of Malta, the first to domiciled on the island, on the order of the 40th, if counted from the genesis of the Order.

The 49th Grand Master to reside there, Jean Parisot de Valette, had little rest. Obsessed with dominating the Mediterranean, the Ottomans returned to the charge. In 1551, they failed to conquer Malta.

The Great Siege of Malta and Birgu Resistance

They took Tripoli.

In 1565, in a second, better-prepared attempt, they besieged the island. The siege lasted almost four months, from May to September of that year. Birgu's location in the heart of the Grand Harbor meant that the main clashes took place there.

the defense Birgu and Malta were in shambles. However, Valette's military prowess and providential reinforcements from Sicily dictated the Ottomans' retreat.

The Knights Hospitaller and the Maltese emerged triumphant, but barely.

Valette yearned for almost total impregnability for Malta. He had the capital passed to the top of Mount Sceberras, on the peninsula north of Birgu. He came to be called Valletta.

Today, it remains the same.

In 1571, the Knights Hospitaller moved in force to Valletta. Until then, the church they called theirs was that of São Lourenço. When, in 1577, the Co-Cathedral of São João de Valletta was ready, they started to use it.

Due to the decisive role he played in the resistance to the Ottomans, Birgu received the title of City Vittoriosa. On the other hand, he lost the political protagonism he maintained. He dedicated himself mainly to trade and nautical services.

The tranquility that lived for almost two centuries was broken, once again, for the worst reasons of war.

From Napoleon's Expulsion to Post-War Reconstruction

We reach 1798. Napoleon put Valletta's invincibility to the test. And he won. Only two years later, with the precious help of Great Britain, Naples and even Portuguese forces, the French withdrew.

Malta became a British protectorate. Birgu, hosted the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, a kind of preamble to the function of a large marina that it continues to play, all these years after the British left the island (1979).

It would not be the only preamble or foreshadowing worthy of note. In 1806, the large warehouse that was kept there exploded and the accident took the lives of another two hundred people.

During the 2nd World War, due to its proximity to the Naval Shipyards, Vittoriosa was bombed countless times. Several of its most iconic historic buildings were razed to the ground.

This was the case of the Clock Tower, a watchtower erected in the medieval period, with unobstructed views over the Grand Harbor where enemy ships and fleets were expected.

The Albergue d'Allemagne, one of the buildings where the Knights Hospitallers were staying, was also razed to the ground.

Fort Saint Angelo just returned to the Hospitallers

Finally, we faced Fort Saint Angelo. We intended to visit him. But we find ourselves barred by the fate that Malta's history has in store for it. Recently, the Government of Malta reached an agreement with the Order of the Knights of St. John, returning to the island.

A part of the fort was ceded for 99 years for the exclusive use of the Hospitallers. It thus forms a kind of independent state over which Malta has no jurisdiction.

Other sections of the fort belong to Heritage Malta, an organization in charge of the island's historical heritage. A recovery for tourism purposes will be foreseen.

No solution, no view, we leave it for a next time.

We ended up admiring it later, from the Viewpoint of the Upper Barraka Gardens, from where the suffering but triumphant Vittoriosa insinuates herself again.

Senglea, Malta

An Overcrowded Malta

At the turn of the 8.000th century, Senglea housed 0.2 inhabitants in 2 km3.000, a European record, today, it has “only” XNUMX neighborhood Christians. It is the smallest, most overcrowded and genuine of the Maltese cities.
Gozo, Malta

Mediterranean Days of Utter Joy

The island of Gozo is a third the size of Malta but only thirty of the small nation's three hundred thousand inhabitants. In duo with Comino's beach recreation, it houses a more down-to-earth and serene version of the always peculiar Maltese life.
Valletta, Malta

An ex-Humble Amazing Capital

At the time of its foundation, the Order of Knights Hospitaller called it "the most humble". Over the centuries, the title ceased to serve him. In 2018, Valletta was the tiniest European Capital of Culture ever and one of the most steeped in history and dazzling in memory.
Mdina, Malta

The Silent and Remarkable City of Malta

Mdina was Malta's capital until 1530. Even after the Knights Hospitaller demoted it, it was attacked and fortified accordingly. Today, it's the coastal and overlooking Valletta that drives the island's destinies. Mdina has the tranquility of its monumentality.
Rabat, Malta

A Former Suburb in the Heart of Malta

If Mdina became the noble capital of the island, the Knights Hospitaller decided to sacrifice the fortification of present-day Rabat. The city outside the walls expanded. It survives as a popular and rural counterpoint to the now living museum in Mdina.
Saint John of Acre, Israel

The Fortress That Withstood Everything

It was a frequent target of the Crusades and taken over and over again. Today, Israeli, Acre is shared by Arabs and Jews. He lives much more peaceful and stable times than the ones he went through.
Helsinki, Finland

Finland's once Swedish Fortress

Detached in a small archipelago at the entrance to Helsinki, Suomenlinna was built by the Swedish kingdom's political-military designs. For more than a century, the Russia stopped her. Since 1917, the Suomi people have venerated it as the historic bastion of their thorny independence.
Castles and Fortresses

The World to Defense - Castles and Fortresses that Resist

Under threat from enemies from the end of time, the leaders of villages and nations built castles and fortresses. All over the place, military monuments like these continue to resist.
Khiva, Uzbequistan

The Silk Road Fortress the Soviets Velved

In the 80s, Soviet leaders renewed Khiva in a softened version that, in 1990, UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site. The USSR disintegrated the following year. Khiva has preserved its new luster.
Massada, Israel

Massada: The Ultimate Jewish Fortress

In AD 73, after months of siege, a Roman legion found that the resisters at the top of Masada had committed suicide. Once again Jewish, this fortress is now the supreme symbol of Zionist determination
Esteros del Iberá, Pantanal Argentina, Alligator
Safari
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Muktinath to Kagbeni, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Kagbeni
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 14th - Muktinath to Kagbeni, Nepal

On the Other Side of the Pass

After the demanding crossing of Thorong La, we recover in the cozy village of Muktinath. The next morning we proceed back to lower altitudes. On the way to the ancient kingdom of Upper Mustang and the village of Kagbeni that serves as its gateway.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Architecture & Design
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Adventure

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Burning prayers, Ohitaki Festival, fushimi temple, kyoto, japan
Ceremonies and Festivities
Kyoto, Japan

A Combustible Faith

During the Shinto celebration of Ohitaki, prayers inscribed on tablets by the Japanese faithful are gathered at the Fushimi temple. There, while being consumed by huge bonfires, her belief is renewed.
Creepy Goddess Graffiti, Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, USA, United States America
Cities
The Haight, San Francisco, USA

Orphans of the Summer of Love

Nonconformity and creativity are still present in the old Flower Power district. But almost 50 years later, the hippie generation has given way to a homeless, uncontrolled and even aggressive youth.
Meal
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Tequila, Jalisco City, Mexico, Jima
Culture
Tequila, JaliscoMexico

Tequila: The Distillation of Western Mexico that Animates the World

Disillusioned with the lack of wine and brandy, the Conquistadors of Mexico improved the millenary indigenous aptitude for producing alcohol. In the XNUMXth century, the Spaniards were satisfied with their pinga and began to export it. From Tequila, town, today, the center of a demarcated region. And the name for which it became famous.
4th of July Fireworks-Seward, Alaska, United States
Sport
Seward, Alaska

The Longest 4th of July

The independence of the United States is celebrated, in Seward, Alaska, in a modest way. Even so, the 4th of July and its celebration seem to have no end.
Traveling
unmissable roads

Great Routes, Great Trips

With pompous names or mere road codes, certain roads run through really sublime scenarios. From Road 66 to the Great Ocean Road, they are all unmissable adventures behind the wheel.
small browser
Ethnic
Honiara e Gizo, Solomon Islands

The Profaned Temple of the Solomon Islands

A Spanish navigator baptized them, eager for riches like those of the biblical king. Ravaged by World War II, conflicts and natural disasters, the Solomon Islands are far from prosperity.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Willemstad, Curacao, Punda, Handelskade
History
Willemstad, Curaçao

The Multicultural Heart of Curaçao

A Dutch colony in the Caribbean became a major slave hub. It welcomed Sephardic Jews who had taken refuge from the Iberia Inquisition in Amsterdam and Recife. And it assimilated influences from the Portuguese and Spanish villages with which it traded. At the heart of this secular cultural fusion has always been its old capital: Willemstad.
Moorea aerial view
Islands
Moorea, French Polynesia

The Polynesian Sister Any Island Would Like to Have

A mere 17km from Tahiti, Moorea does not have a single city and is home to a tenth of its inhabitants. Tahitians have long watched the sun go down and transform the island next door into a misty silhouette, only to return to its exuberant colors and shapes hours later. For those who visit these remote parts of the Pacific, getting to know Moorea is a double privilege.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
silhouette and poem, Cora coralina, Goias Velho, Brazil
Literature
Goiás Velho, Brazil

The Life and Work of a Marginal Writer

Born in Goiás, Ana Lins Bretas spent most of her life far from her castrating family and the city. Returning to its origins, it continued to portray the prejudiced mentality of the Brazilian countryside
Rancho Salto Yanigua, Dominican Republic, mining stones
Nature
Montana Redonda and Rancho Salto Yanigua, Dominican Republic

From Montaña Redonda to Rancho Salto Yanigua

Discovering the Dominican northwest, we ascend to the Montaña Redonda de Miches, recently transformed into an unusual peak of escape. From the top, we point to Bahia de Samaná and Los Haitises, passing through the picturesque Salto Yanigua ranch.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Solovestsky Autumn
UNESCO World Heritage
Solovetsky Islands, Russia

The Mother Island of the Gulag Archipelago

It hosted one of Russia's most powerful Orthodox religious domains, but Lenin and Stalin turned it into a gulag. With the fall of the USSR, Solovestky regains his peace and spirituality.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
The Dominican Republic Balnear de Barahona, Balneario Los Patos
Beaches
Barahona, Dominican Republic

The Bathing Dominican Republic of Barahona

Saturday after Saturday, the southwest corner of the Dominican Republic goes into decompression mode. Little by little, its seductive beaches and lagoons welcome a tide of euphoric people who indulge in a peculiar rumbear amphibian.
Chiang Khong to Luang Prabang, Laos, Through the Mekong Below
Religion
Chiang Khong - Luang Prabang , Laos

Slow Boat, Down the Mekong River

Laos' beauty and lower cost are good reasons to sail between Chiang Khong and Luang Prabang. But this long descent of the Mekong River can be as exhausting as it is picturesque.
Flam Railway composition below a waterfall, Norway.
On Rails
Nesbyen to Flam, Norway

Flam Railway: Sublime Norway from the First to the Last Station

By road and aboard the Flam Railway, on one of the steepest railway routes in the world, we reach Flam and the entrance to the Sognefjord, the largest, deepest and most revered of the Scandinavian fjords. From the starting point to the last station, this monumental Norway that we have unveiled is confirmed.
Tombola, street bingo-Campeche, Mexico
Society
Campeche, Mexico

A Bingo so playful that you play with puppets

On Friday nights, a group of ladies occupy tables at Independencia Park and bet on trifles. The tiniest prizes come out to them in combinations of cats, hearts, comets, maracas and other icons.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Sheep and hikers in Mykines, Faroe Islands
Wildlife
Mykines, Faroe Islands

In the Faeroes FarWest

Mykines establishes the western threshold of the Faroe archipelago. It housed 179 people but the harshness of the retreat got the better of it. Today, only nine souls survive there. When we visit it, we find the island given over to its thousand sheep and the restless colonies of puffins.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.