Maltese villages make their own fireworks
Village factories, volunteer crews and a year of work set off in a few nights, driven by the rivalry between clubs.
8 May 20262 minRead Maltese villages make their own fireworks
Malta Central Magazine
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The salt pans on the Gozo coast still work
Families cut salt out of the rock between Qbajjar and Xwejni every summer, the same way it has been done for centuries.
27 Apr 20262 minRead The salt pans on the Gozo coast still work -
The eye painted on a luzzu, and what it is for
Every Maltese fishing boat carries an eye on the bow. The habit is thought to go back to Phoenician boats.
17 Apr 20262 minRead The eye painted on a luzzu, and what it is for -
Holy Week in Malta, and what happens on each day
Seven churches on the Thursday, funeral marches on the Friday, and statues run uphill on the Sunday.
8 Apr 20262 minRead Holy Week in Malta, and what happens on each day -
The bomb that fell through the dome at Mosta
It came through the roof during a service in April 1942, with three hundred people inside, and it did not explode.
24 Mar 20262 minRead The bomb that fell through the dome at Mosta -
The Knights ran Malta for 268 years
The Order of St John arrived in 1530 and left in 1798. Valletta, the co-cathedral and the auberges all date from those…
13 Mar 20262 minRead The Knights ran Malta for 268 years -
Mdina is quiet because almost nobody lives there
The old capital has fewer than three hundred residents inside the walls and almost no traffic. Here is how it ended up…
5 Mar 20262 minRead Mdina is quiet because almost nobody lives there -
Malta runs two carnivals in the same week
One is an official daytime parade in Valletta. The other is an after-dark tradition in Nadur, and they are not interchangeable.
21 Feb 20262 minRead Malta runs two carnivals in the same week -
The feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck is on 10 February
A public holiday, a procession through Valletta, and one of the very few large feasts that does not fall in summer.
12 Feb 20262 minRead The feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck is on 10 February -
What Malta is like in winter
Mild, wet and windy rather than cold, with short queues, cheap rooms and buildings that were never meant to hold heat.
5 Feb 20262 minRead What Malta is like in winter -
Ġgantija is a thousand years older than the pyramids
The temples at Xagħra in Gozo were built around 3600 BC, which puts them a thousand years ahead of Giza.
29 Jan 20262 minRead Ġgantija is a thousand years older than the pyramids -
Why Malta drives on the left, and what else is British
Britain ran Malta from 1800 until 1964, and the last forces left in 1979. The roads, the plugs and the language still…
22 Jan 20262 minRead Why Malta drives on the left, and what else is British