Local history and culture Malta

Projected on a panoramic screen, this 45-minute film retraces the history of Malta, with commentaries that can be followed in French or in twenty other languages, as desired. To watch it, you will be comfortably seated in the half-light. The commentary is very well done, very detailed, very well illustrated and the film is a most interesting historical and cultural presentation. Ideal if you wish to get a first idea of the island before discovering it or to complete your knowledge if you have not been able to visit it as a whole.

The streets of Birgu are those of a Neapolitan village, with laundry hanging in the windows and a lively local life. Tourists are discreet. The town is also known for its inns. The first mention of these inns dates back to 1490 when the Order was still in Rhodes. When the Order arrived in Malta, it was in Birgu (or Vittoriosa) that it settled, finding houses that were easy to convert into inns for their various languages.

Calle de la Tramuntana (Triq it-Tramuntana) is a small street perpendicular to Calle Tabone that houses a building in the Sicilian-Norman style (or Chiaramonte) at number 11. Another building in the same style, The House of the Castellan, is located in the Fort St. Angelo.

The central square, Victory Square, has its small bars, its pastizzeria and its Band Club, the St. Lawrence. The latter is housed in a beautiful typical house with a carved wooden balcony, and its library is decorated with Maltese furniture. For the locals, this square is known as "Il-Pjazza". Its white statue of St. Lawrence dates from 1880. The Victory Monument, erected in 1705 under the Grand Master Perellos y Roccaful, commemorates the victory of the Great Siege of 1565. A stone crucifix recalls executions prior to the 16th century. The St. Lawrence Band Club is a building with an imposing facade that contains a musical archive. On October¹, the Birgu festival takes place in the square, and people parade in costume. On Easter Sunday, a statue of the Risen Jesus is carried through the streets... running.

Behind the Victory monument begins Saint Anthony Street, a Jewish ghetto dating from before the arrival of the Knights. From Victory Square, signs indicate the direction of the various Knights' inns, more or less well preserved (France, Provence, Auvergne, Castile and Portugal, England). Separated according to their language, they were grouped in a district called "Il Collachio", reserved for the Knights.

Opposite the oratory of St. Joseph, the oratory of the Holy Crucifix dates from 1721. The last battle of the Great Siege of 1565 took place in this small square; the ground was used as a burial ground for the victims. You can then walk down the steps to St. Lawrence Church, the largest in Birgu, which overlooks Dockyard Creek.

On the docks stands the church of Senglea. On the large mound planted with prickly pear trees, the bronze soldiers of the Freedom Monument commemorate the departure of the last British soldiers (31 March 1979).

This is one of Malta's largest underground shelters. It was dug by man to a depth of 12 m and has a total length of 225 m. Artefacts testify to what life was like here during the terrible bombing raids that ravaged the island during the Second World War. Part of the village's population took refuge here.

The tour (always guided) begins with a documentary on Malta during the Second World War, after which visitors are escorted into the shelter.