City? More like a Fortress! Day 1 in Valletta

Greetings again one and all!

Well, I'm all settled in now in Malta, adjusted to the time zone, adjusted to the weather (a slightly above my liking, 30 degrees, but it has been constant, so I no longer sweat merely by being awake, I actually need to do something which resembles exercise).

First on the agenda, working out how public transport works.

To little surprise, it was far superior to Australia's system of transport - there are plenty of buses every hour, all of which are air-conditioned and most importantly, all of which have run like clockwork. So a country of 400 000 people with a tiny budget manages to do something which Sydney cannot, that is, have a system in which not owning a car is not only encouraged, but viable.

I should also note that ticket prices are standardised - you can buy a one way ticket for a Euro, a day pass for one Euro fifty cents, or, if you plan on doing a lot of travel, a weekly for six Euros and fifty cents. This princely sum allows you to use any government bus to any destination as many times as you like. The buses, as you could imagine are always full, with some tourists, but also a healthy mix of local users as well - turns out that in terms of public transport, you do in fact catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

Staying on the topic of buses, Valletta, the capital is also the primary hub for all transport. Much in the same way that the Ancient Romans claimed that all roads lead to Rome, one can claim that all buses lead to Valletta. This is particularly handy for me, as I am living five minutes away from the city (by bus), which means that should when I decide to explore the island, I will have a particularly easy time going about it.

Okay, I've waxed lyrical about the fantastic transport here - I should probably fill you in on Valletta now, because quite frankly, I don't think any of you are particularly interested in my new found fascination with buses.

So after arriving at the city's entrance, I am struck by how different it is from any other city I've been to. The bus (last mention in this post, I promise!) stopped out the front of it and will not enter. I can't explain why, it would not do the place any justice. Instead, I'll show you. Behold! The city gates:

The Entrance to Valletta - this has been recently redesigned as a smaller entrance, to continue with the fortress look. You may also notice that you need to cross a bridge to enter here - this city could isolate itself from the rest of the country within seconds.

Less of a city, more of a fortress. In my travels thus far, I have not seen a city walled in such as this. The walls are absolutely gigantic - they're a good twenty metres tall, and at least six metres thick. Basically, this is an impregnable fortress - if the Maltese don't want you entering Valletta, chances are quite high that you will not get in.

The city walls, as seen from the outside. They are a combination of the original stone upon which Valletta was built, as well as extra masonry on top of that.

Another section of city wall taken from a lower angle this time. All I can imagine the designers of these fortifications was thinking during the building process was "How can we make this more imposing?"

"I know, lets make it even taller!"

Back to the main entrance - the tower in the centre would have been bristling with cannon. Although you cannot see it in this picture, the land steeply declines around Valletta, in many places, it is a sheer cliff. So as your eternal reward for travelling across the Mediterranean, dragging your siege weaponry form a ship, bringing it all uphill to get it closer to the city, you will receive your imminent death. 

As impressive as these fortifications are, they are a stark contrast to the artisan level of architecture within the city walls. Whilst the walls and towers are large, solid and bleak looking structures, the same cannot be said, fortunately for the city itself. As this was my first day within the city, I spent most of my time there exploring, finding the hidden back alleys which wind their way through the city, a criss-crossing set of warrens which all lead to a main road. Stay tuned for more photographs of the city itself, as I will be going into greater depth with these in an upcoming post. In the meantime, I do want to keep focusing on the more military aspects of the design.

As noted earlier, the walls completely envelope the city from all directions - towards the sea as well as inland. The city was not built to be the front line defence however, especially from the sea. There are a series of fortifications which point out directly into the Mediterranean, such as Fort St. Elmo (shockingly, not named after a particularly ticklish Sesame Street character), as well as the Main Battery which overlooks Valletta harbour.

Fort St. Elmo - a thorough exploration of this battlement will be seen in an upcoming post. 

Another closer shot of Fort St. Elmo. Whilst we can see cannons pointed toward Valletta from within the fortifications, a direction they would never have been fired in, they do provide a good idea of the depth of the walls - it would have taken serious firepower to have damaged, let alone blow a hole in these walls.

The main gun battery overlooking Valletta harbour. These are fired twice a day in the same fashion as they were to welcome the Knights of St. John when their ships were arriving from Europe.

All in all, Valletta was designed and built with the purpose of being a fortress. The city is incredibly defensible, any who would desire to capture this in the days before (and indeed, even during) flight would have had a seriously difficult time doing so. It is evident from the locations and designs of these structures that the city, and island, were deemed to be of extreme strategic significance to the Knights of St. John, as it provided a staging ground from Europe to reach any point within the Mediterranean Sea. Controlling this island would allow a great deal of control over the surrounding waters, and thus, a very strong advantage in terms of trade in the region.

That's all for now - stay tuned in for the next update!

R&S