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MALTA ISLAND - HISTORY

4000-5000 years ago on the island of Malta and the neighboring island of Gozo, the megalithic temples arose first in the world of religious worship, some even older than the pyramids of Egypt. The special cutting technique of processing, transporting and building megalithic temples is not known. The temples are circular, with clover-shaped rooms (three or four sheets), diameters of 20-30 m and heights of 4-5 m. Construction of the giant temples of the Maltese archipelago and then suddenly stopped for unknown reasons. The most famous temples are at Hagar Qim (Malta), Tarxien (Malta), Mnajdra (Malta) and Ggantija (Gozo). From Malta, megalithic style then spread throughout Europe (Greece, Crete, Sardinia, Corsica, France, England).

After a few hundred years, the second great phase of colonization of the archipelago of Malta took place. The new settlers probably arrived from southern Italy. They have recycled old temples, but they did not build more. Additional information about this generation of settlers was not kept.

The first reliable historical data is from the period when Malta was inhabited by the Phoenicians.

Then the island belonged to Punic Carthage (Tunisia), African descendants of the Phoenicians. The Punic rulers of the island remained until 218 BC, after the three Punic wars between Rome and Carthage, the Romans took possession of Malta and nearby islands (Gozo, Comino, Cominotto, Filfla and St . Paul).

According to the legend, around 60 D.C., the vessel in which the apostle Paul (Paulus) was transported from Palestine to Rome to be tried, wrecked in the Gulf of St. Pauls Bay in north-western island of Malta, Paul was forced to spend the winter on the island, closed temporarily in a grotto under the current church "St. Paul "in the town of Rabat. A good part of the population was converted to Christianity, including the roman prefect, Publius (after it had cured his father). Subsequently, Publius would become bishop of Malta and died a martyr.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was kept relatively little data about the history of the island, until the 870 AD occupation by the Arabs. Arabs ruled the archipelago for two centuries, which have left their mark especially in language.

In the following centuries, Malta passes successively in possession of different European nations:

- The Normans in 1090 (under Count Roger of Hautville)

- The Sicilians in 1194 (by marriage to a German family member Staufer)

- The French in 1268 (under Charles I Robert of Anjou);

- The Aragoes in 1282, after the expulsion of Charles I Robert of Anjou in Sicily by Peter von Aragon (known episode in history as the "Sicilian Vespers", Giuseppe Verdi wrote an opera on this subject);

- Castilians in 1284.

In the early fifteenth century Malta temporarily acquires the status of self-determination. Then after a short time it becomes a Castilian territory again, and in 1428 Sicilian territory (under King Alfonso V).

In 1523 the European powers awarded the Order of Malta to Ioanitian members, expelled by the Turks on the island of Rhodes. The time of the Ioanitian Order (synonym: "Knights of Malta) is known as the second important period in history massive construction. Capital Valletta took its name from its builder, John Grand, Master of the Order of the Jean Parisot Valette.

Mastering John finally in 1798,the French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte occupied this arhipelago. He spent six days on the island. Frustrated by the behavior of French troops, the Maltese people rebelled, obtaining military aid from the King of Naples and the English admiral Nelson. In 1802, following the Peace of Amiens (France), it was returned to the Ioanitian Order of Malta. Realizing its strategic military importance, Britain annexed it, annexation sanctioned by the Treaty of Paris (1814) and the Congress of Vienna (1815).

In 1964 Malta obtained its independence, remaining a member of the Commonwealth until 1974, when England was completely off. From 1 May 2004 Malta has been a member of the European Union.

The current headquarters' Knights of Malta "is in Rome (Via Condotti 68), also known as the "Priory of Malta".

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