"My view from Valletta's monumental, austere City Gate is a master class in palimpsestic architecture. Plunging below me are the 16th-century walls that snake around the city's fortified harbor, while the rest of the scene is crowded with Corinthian columns, Art Deco friezes, and a 1950s Triton fountain, a reminder of the city's maritime heritage. The distant hills are topped with Baroque churches and home to the ruins of prehistoric megalithic temples, dating as far back as 3600 BCE."
"Like so many islands in the Mediterranean, Malta carries the mark of numerous occupying powers, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, French, and British, who ruled from 1813 until 1964. In 1980, UNESCO named the country's tiny capital a World Heritage Site, describing it as "one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world" with some 320 monuments crammed into 136 acres."
Valletta presents a palimpsest of architectural layers, from 16th-century fortifications and Corinthian columns to Baroque churches and prehistoric megalithic temples dating to 3600 BCE. The island bears marks of Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, French and British rule; the capital contains about 320 monuments within 136 acres and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. The Knights Templar legacy imposed a quiet order across the city. A 2014 intervention by Renzo Piano pared back later accretions at the City Gate, reinstating medieval rampart drama and enabling subsequent development. A contemporary arts space opened recently to strengthen Malta's cultural infrastructure.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]