Malta 4/17-25/2026
Valletta, Malta Valletta has been built on a peninsula in the central eastern part of Malta and has a population of just over 6000 people. Valletta is named after the French Grandmaster Jean Parisot De La Valette who headed the defense of Malta from the Ottoman invasion in 1565. The entire city of Valletta has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Valletta boasts many buildings from the 16th century, mostly baroque architecture that was built by the Knights of St. John. The Knights came to Malta in 1530 after they were evicted from their earlier home on Rhodes by the Turks in 1522 and were noblemen from the most important families of Europe, with their mission to protect the Catholic faith against the Muslim forces. Using Malta as their new base, the Knights continued to fight against the Turks and especially the Barbary pirates. Unhappy to see the order resettled, Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, sent an invasion force of about 40...