I knew absolutely nothing about this wonderful island before we cruised in. As usual I was up on deck 9 to watch the dawn. Wow!

Malta is an island south of Italy . Dating back to the 16th century, Malta suffered through bombings during World War II that destroyed many of the old buildings. It bounced back and now Valleta, the capital, is a designated UNESCO site.

We spent our day out of town, exploring the rugged north coast. We visited the Mnajdra Temples, built around 3600-3200 BC. or about a thousand years before the pyramids. These temples are acknowledged to be the oldest buildings still standing on earth.

They used stone that was available at the site, both coralline limestone which is more resistant to weathering and softer globigerina limestone that allowed the builders to cut smooth am
Nd regularly shaped megaliths which fit together perfectly.

After lunch we walked the old town of Mdina, a maze of streets that protected the town from capture by pirates. We all easily got lost and ambushed by archers.

There are several thousand churches on the island, the majority of which are private, small and owned by individual families. The cathedral was spectacular.

I got some of these pictures out of sequence, sorry.