AX The Palace

Valletta, The Fortress City, Citta' Umilissima, "a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen" is Malta's capital city: a living, working city, the administrative and commercial heart of the Islands. Valletta is named after its founder, the respected Grand Master of the Order of St. John, Jean Parisot de la Valette. The magnificent fortress city grew on the arid rock of Mount Sceberras peninsula, which rises steeply from two deep harbours, Marsamxett and Grand Harbour. Started in 1566, Valletta was completed, with its impressive bastions, forts and cathedral, in the astonishingly short time of 15 years, even more remarkable is considering the fact that mechanical tools did not exist at the time and the whole city was built entirely by hand. Valletta has many titles, all recalling its rich historical past. It is the "modern" city built by the Knights of St John; a masterpiece of the Baroque; a European Art City and a World Heritage City. Today, it is one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. The city is busy by day, yet retains a timeless atmosphere by night, that gives the feeling that you are walking back in time. The grid of narrow streets boasts some of Europe's finest art works, churches and palaces. Valletta is abundantly rich in sites to see and explore, intriguing historical buildings around every corner: votive statues, niches, fountains and coats of arms high up on parapets. Narrow side streets are full of tiny quaint shops and cafés, while Valletta's main streets are lined with larger international branded shops for fashion, music, jewellery and much more. The best way to get around and see the most, from your visit to Valletta, is on foot and although the things to do & see are many, a good start and definitely not to be missed are Valletta's beautiful gardens. The Upper Barrakka Gardens, Hastings Gardens & the Lower Barrakka Gardens are just three of the most popular ones, however on further exploration many more hidden gardens can be discovered. From the Upper Barrakka Gardens it is also possible to see the Saluting Battery as well as take the lift down the bastions to sea level. St John's co-Cathedral & museum are definitely not to be missed, this elaborately adorned church is home to world famous artistic masterpieces by Caravaggio and Mattia Preti. Apart from beautiful Baroque churches other places of interest include the various grandmaster auberges, piazzas & museums

Quick Facts on Gozo 37,000 Inhabitants Small island covering just 67 km2 (26 square miles) Second largest of the three inhabited Maltese islands Known for a few popular sites like the Dwejra inland sea, the Citadel in Victoria (a small bastion city built atop one of the hills in Gozo with a rich historical background) and the Ġgantija Megalithic temples. A number of big budget film productions were shot in Malta and Gozo. In the first series of Game of Thrones, the Azure Window (natural rock formation which unfortunately collapsed recently) featured in the backdrop of some of the more memorable scenes. Said to have been the home of the mythological Calypso, the nymph from Homer’s Odyssey.

Manoel Island is a flat island shaped roughly like a leaf. It is located in the middle of Marsamxett Harbour, with Lazzaretto Creek to its south and Sliema Creek to its north. The island is connected to mainland Malta by a bridge. The whole island can be viewed from the bastions of the capital Valletta. In 1592, a quarantine hospital known as the Lazzaretto was built during an outbreak of the plague. The hospital was made of wooden huts, and it was pulled down a year later after the disease had subsided. In 1643, during the reign of Grandmaster Lascaris, the Order of Saint John exchanged the island with the church for some land in Rabat and built a permanent Lazzaretto in an attempt to control the periodic influx of plague and cholera on board visiting ships. It was initially used as a quarantine centre where passengers from quarantined ships were taken. The hospital was subsequently improved during the reigns of Grandmasters Cotoner, Carafa and de Vilhena. Between 1723 and 1733, a new star fort was built on the island by the Portuguese Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena. The fort was called Fort Manoel after the Grand Master, and the island was renamed at this point. The fort is considered a typical example of 18th century military engineering, and its original plans are attributed to René Jacob de Tigné, and are said to have been modified by his friend and colleague Charles François de Mondion, who is buried in a crypt beneath Fort Manoel. The Fort has a magnificent quadrangle, parade ground and arcade, and once housed a baroque chapel dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua, under the direct command of the Order. In the British period, the Lazzaretto continued to be used and was enlarged during the governorship of Sir Henry Bouverie in 1837 and 1838. It was briefly used to house troops but was converted back into a hospital in 1871. During the course of the 19th century, some incoming mail was fumigated and disinfected at the Profumo Office of the hospital to prevent the spread of diseases. During World War II, when Malta was under siege, Manoel Island and its fort were used as a naval base by the Royal Navy's 10th Submarine Flotilla, at which time it was referred to as "HMS Talbot" or "HMS Phœnicia". The Chapel of St. Anthony was destroyed following a direct hit by Luftwaffe bombers in March 1942. The island and the fort remained derelict for many years and Fort Manoel and the Lazzaretto were both vandalized.

ituated between Malta and Gozo, the smaller island of Comino is a paradise for snorkelers, divers, windsurfers and ramblers. Only 3.5 square kilometers, Comino is car-free and apart from one hotel, is virtually uninhabited. The island's main attraction is the Blue Lagoon. In summer, this sheltered inlet of shimmering aquamarine water over white sand is very popular with day-trippers. Other beaches on the island include Santa Marija Bay and San Niklaw Bay. Comino is also worth a visit in winter, and is ideal for walkers and photographers. With no urban areas or cars on the island, one can easily smell the scent of wild thyme and other herbs. Comino was inhabited in the Roman period, but did not have much significance until the Knights arrived. It then had a dual role: hunting grounds and a staging post in the defence of the Maltese Islands against the Ottoman Turks. The island had proved a useful base for pirates operating in the central Mediterranean and, though stark and barren today, it was home to wild boar and hares when the Knights arrived in 1530. The Grandmasters went to great lengths to ensure that their game on Comino was protected: anyone found breaking the embargo on hunting could expect to serve three years rowing on a galley. After WWII, Comino remained a backwater until its fortunes revived with tourism in the mid-1960s.

Mnajdra is located in an isolated position on a rugged stretch of Malta’s southern coast, overlooking the isle of Fifla. It is some 500m away from Ħaġar Qim Temples. Both sites are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The site consists of three buildings facing a common oval forecourt. The first and oldest structure dates to the Ġgantija phase (3600 – 3200 BC). The second structure known as the South Temple was built in the early Tarxien phase (3150 – 2500 BC). The Central Temple, which lies between the two, was the last to be constructed. Remains to the north-east and south of these buildings indicate that these three structures are only the best preserved of a larger complex. The South Temple has its entrance set in a concave monumental facade and leads to two rooms, or apses. A small niche situated in the right-side apse and accessed through a small porthole slab set within a trilithon, features on the Maltese 5, 2 and 1 euro cent coins. Opposite the main entrance is the doorway to the second set of apses flanked by two large blocks decorated with small drilled holes. This doorway and the decorated blocks mark the position of the rising sun on the first day of spring and autumn (the Equinoxes) and the first day of summer and winter (the Solstices). Mnajdra’s Central Temple is built on an artificial platform and has an unusual facade in that it has two doorways, a central porthole doorway and a second open doorway with a single step to its left. In the East Temple, the low rubble walls visible today are modern reconstructions; they follow the original plan of this structure as indicated by the torba (crushed limestone) floor which survived. The upright stone blocks in the main doorway and in the entrance to the central apse are original. Two of them retain several irregular lines of drilled holes which have been the focus of many studies and theories on their possible meaning. A dedicated visitor centre offers information about the site in a fun and interactive manner.

Esplora, Malta’s Interactive Science Centre; is an informal educational and recreational facility suited to visitors of all age groups. Esplora is located at Villa Bighi in Kalkara overlooking the Grand Harbour. The building was formerly used as a hospital by the Royal Navy. It consists of a number of buildings and outdoor spaces which are all interconnected following an extensive restoration and development process which is now complete. The primary aim is for Visitors to experience science as being fun, exciting, and enjoyable. Visitors are able to engage with science through hands-on interaction amongst other activities. Science will be projected as being easy to understand and entertaining through a range of workshops, performances, science shows and debates. Throughout the careful design of the spaces, visitors can see the relevance and the presence of science in their everyday lives. Esplora offers visitors an opportunity to discover and understand science at their own pace through a series of hands-on experiences and phenomena-related exhibits. In this way, the importance of the scientific processes is communicated through questioning, predicting, experimenting, analysing and making conclusions. Features within Esplora include a Planetarium, an Outdoor Adventure Experience, an Activity Centre as well as interactive exhibition halls catering for every age and interest. The exhibition entitled “Life at Bighi” is housed in the Cot Lift, the entrance to Esplora for visitors arriving by boat to the Esplora jetty, which will be completed within the next 18 months. This exhibition features artefacts and memorabilia pertaining to the years when Villa Bighi was used as a hospital. The novel hands-on exhibits and unique elements of the Centre, as well as the recreational areas including the EsploraCafé, make Esplora one Malta’s top attractions. The project is being led by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) and is part financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.

The temple of Ħaġar Qim stands on a hilltop overlooking the sea and the islet of Fifla, not more than 2km south-west of the village of Qrendi. At the bottom of the hill, only 500m away, one finds the remarkable temples of Mnajdra. Both sites are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 18th and 19th century paintings which feature this temple show that Ħaġar Qim was never completely buried as the tallest stones, remained exposed. First excavated in 1839, the remains suggest a date between 3600 – 3200 BC; a period known as the Ġgantija phase in Maltese prehistory. The site consists of a central building and the remains of at least two more structures. The large forecourt and the monumental facade of the central structure follow the pattern typical of Maltese Prehistoric Temples. Along the external wall, one may find some of the largest megaliths used in the building of these structures, such as a 5.2m high stone and a huge megalith estimated to weigh close to 20 tonnes. The building itself is made up of a series of C-shaped rooms, known as apses. Walking through the main entrance, one finds a central paved space with an apse on each side. A slab bearing a pair of opposing spirals in relief and a free-standing pillar decorated on all four sides were discovered in the area. These have been replaced with replicas and the originals can be found at the National Museum of Archaeology. A number of stone and clay statuettes of obese figures which have been unearthed in this temple can also be viewed at the museum. One of the prehistoric chambers at Ħaġar Qim holds an elliptical hole which is hewn out in alignment with the Summer Solstice sunrise. At sunrise, on the first day of summer, the sun’s rays pass through this hole and illuminate a stone slab inside the chamber. A dedicated visitor centre offers information about the site in a fun and interactive manner.

The Point Shopping Mall is established as Malta’s premium shopping destination, dedicated to creating a fun, engaging and memorable experience for our guests. To sustain and grow our position as the preferred shopping destination of choice in Malta, through our trained resources, responsibly serving our customers, offering an extraordinary experience to our guests and adding value to our stakeholders. Since opening its doors in 2010, The Point has become Malta’s favourite shopping destination for locals and tourists alike. It occupies a special and unique space in Malta’s shopping environment, attracting 2.5 million annual local and overseas visitors to a luxury mall of exclusive shops and eateries that are equal of anything, currently available in the islands. As such, The Point enjoys a unique status as Malta’s retail jewel in the crown. Exuding a stunning five star ambiance, The Point plays host to a largest concentration of exclusive brands in Malta and conveniently located under one roof. Its 15,000 sqm space also provides space for entertaining events and promotions of all types, which are continuous crowd-pullers that create sustainable growth and brand popularity. Strategically located in the heart of Sliema’s bustling center, The Point offers a dynamic mix of the latest fashion, beauty, health, and lifestyle stores for convenience and shopping pleasure. Its extensive array of food outlets has also been handpicked to appeal to a cross-section of tastes and budgets. Ample parking with 24-hour security completes a package that is the last word in comfort, service and convenience for The Point’s visitors. For further information, please send an email to info@thepointmalta.com.