Valletta on Malta

Saturday, 13 December 2014 - 04:54 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  3 minutes

Grandmaster's Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0

Grandmaster’s Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt (English: The City) in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,966. Valletta is the second southernmost capital of the EU member states after Nicosia.

Valletta contains buildings from the 16th century onwards, built during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as Knights Hospitaller. The city is essentially Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture in selected areas. The City of Valletta was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.

Republic Street, the main shopping area © Kramer96/cc-by-3.0 © Valletta Waterfront/cc-by-sa-3.0 The three Cities © Afr66 Government Palace © Freier Denker © Joe MiGo Grandmaster's Palace © Zairon/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Republic Street, the main shopping area © Kramer96/cc-by-3.0
The city was named for Jean Parisot de la Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565. The official name given by the Order of Saint John was Humilissima Civitas VallettaThe Most Humble City of Valletta, or Città Umilissima in Italian. The bastions, curtains and ravelins along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname SuperbissimaMost Proud.

On Friday, 12 October 2012, Valletta was unanimously named European Capital of Culture (ECoC) for 2018, by a jury of experts, following a presentation by the Valletta 2018 Foundation. The official declaration of the title is expected to take place at the next EU Council of Ministers meeting, some time around May 2013. ECoC jury chairman Manfred Gaulhofer, during a live-broadcast press conference in St John’s Co-Cathedral’s oratory, said the jury was convinced that Valletta had the will, motivation and the required ambition to receive the title.

Read more on VisitMalta.com – Valletta, Wikitravel Valletta, Wikivoyage Valletta and Wikipedia Valletta. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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