Europa se derde oudste werkende teater

Die Teatru Manoel  in Valetta was 'n verrassende ontdekking!
    Tydens my oudio toer van die teater, het die Malta Filharmoniese orkes gerepeteer...  Die eerste keer in my lewe dat ek 'n donker dirigent op die podium sien ...
     Barodin se tweede simfonie met Wayne Marshall...   was dit nou nie 'n bonus om in die ouditorium te sit en te sien hoe die orkes oefen nie.  Heerlik.

                       Die plafon... ek kon die volledige restourasieproses dokumenter volg.

Die Heilige Paulus lok vele toeriste na Malta

   

Daar is 'n baai vernoem na Paulus in Noord Malta, maar eintlik is hy die Maltese se geestelike vader en daar is baie kerke, grotte ens wat sy naam dra. 

      Ek het die kerk in St Paul's Triq in Valetta besoek waar 'n marmerbeeld van die heilige buitekant die reisiger nader roep ...

bron      :    www.malta.com

The Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck is one of Valletta’s oldest churches, dating back to the 1570s.

Many consider St. Paul to be the spiritual father of the Maltese nation. In fact, his shipwreck is thought of as being the most significant event in the nation's history. Thus,The Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck is amongst the most important churches in Malta.

There are artistic treasures including the outstanding altarpiece by Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, the choir and dome of Lorenzo Gafa, the paintings by Attilio Palombi and Giuseppe Cali. The wooden statue of St. Paul was carved in 1657 by Melchior Gafà. Up till this day, the statue is taken out in a procession around Valletta on the feast day of St Paul's Shipwreck, every February 10th. The church holds the precious relic of the right wrist-bone of St. Paul as well as part of the column that was used to behead the St. Paul in Rome   .(foto onder)

Die taal van die Maltesers

Hoewel Engels dieselfde status as Maltees het, is laasgenoemde die taal van die mense wat aan daardie rots in die Middellandse see geanker is. Maltees is 'n Arabiese taal wat in Romeinse letters geskryf word.
                        Dit is wat www. omniglot.com verduidelik:
Maltese is a Central Semitic language spoken by about 420,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo (Għawdex) and Comino (Kemmuna). The Maltese language developed from the Siculo-Arabic or Sicilian Arabic, a form of Arabic that developed in Sicily and Malta between the 9th and 14th centuries. Siculo-Arabic was extinct in Sicily by about 1300, but continued to be spoken in Malta and evolved into Maltese. The first reference to Malta having a distinct language dates from 1364, and the language is first referred to as lingua maltensi in the will of a certain Pawlu Peregrino from 1436.

Hier is 'n paar voorbeelde van die taal op kennisgewings:

Sondag blitstoer van Gozo

Onder leiding van my vriendelike Couchsurfing gaspaar, sien ek een Sondagoggend in April meer van Gozo as wat ek ooit kon droom.
    Eerste aan die beurt in "Fungus Rock" in Dwerjabaai...

Fungus Rock Description & history

A fungus, Fungus Gaulitanus, which grows on the rock had medicinal qualities and this fungus was used by the Knights of St. John.

 They valued the fungus so much that they guarded the island. A penalty of death was imposed on any one trying to steal the fungus.

Because the cliffs of the island are shear and high, the knights erected a man carrying hoist system between the island and the land, to facilitate the collection of the fungus

The locals call Fungus Rock Il-Gebla tal-General, which means General's Rock                 Bron:  Malta-info

Daarna besoek ons die Asuur venster ... en langsaan  (foto, tweede onder)  nog 'n geologiese wonder, die "blou gat" of binnelandse see...

The window is a towering rock formation reaching 328 feet high with a precarious table structure that makes it popular for cliff divers. Yet below is another wonder with a collapsed underwater limestone cave known as the Blue Hole. It's accessed by divers through a 262-foot tunnel, and underwater you can find a beautiful array of marine life including octopi, fire worms, and sea horses.           Unfortunately, the Azure Window is wearing down. In April of 2012, it got a little wider when part of it broke off. But there's apparently already a plan if the worst happens, and upon its collapse it will be rechristened the Azure Pinnacle. 

... en dan na Ta Pinu Basilika... die kerk in die veld met 'n interessante (Katolieke) storie...   gaan na:  http://www.marypages.com/OurLadyofTaPinu.htm

Op die klein eiland is niks 'n dagreis ver nie... en hieronder is ons by die soutpanne...  daar is 'n verduidelikende video op YouTube as my leser meer wil weet.

 en dan na Ramlabaai en die grot                                                                            van Calypso

stap deur Calypso se grot (This site is thought to be the same cave Homer mentioned in `The Odyssey' where Calypso, the beautiful nymph, kept Odysseus as a `prisoner of love' for seven years. .)...

dan wag die tenoorgestelde uitsig op Ramlabaai jou...

Dan ry ons na Victoria waar ek op my eie kan verken...

maar eers stop ons om 'n lukwart te eet in Gordon se pa se deel van 'n gemeenskapstuin buite die stad...

Rustig in 'n stil straatjie in 'n woonbuurt naby die Citadella

Vaarwel Valetta

Ek het nog altyd 'n stryd met myself oor die laaste dag van 'n reis... daardie gevoel van "wat moet ek nog sien of doen" of net 'n moeilike afskeid.
    So was my laaste dag in Valetta 'n dag van rondstap, waarneem en onthou...

                      Die wagte voor die "Grandmasters" se Paleis werk nie op Sondae nie, dus kon
                                                           die dogtertjie na hartelus speel

Die mure van die paleis staan al vir ongeveer 5 eeue

en besoekers word binnegenooi ...

Die plein voor die paleis het 'n gesinkroniese waterfontein, dus speel die mooiste musiek elke uur...

en sommige mense begin dan spontaan dans ...

vakmanskap met plaaslike kalkklip is buitengewoon ...

Bekend tot in Malta!

Die balkon is 'n belangrike aspek van die Maltese argitektuur

Die vulliskarretjie wat Valetta se strate skoonhou

opelug teater

Bo:  interieur van St Johns co-dathedral

Onder:  Een van die uitstaande tapisseriee 

Jean de Valette, stigter van die stad, onder

alles pas vir die Sondaguitstappie

Vreugdedag in Victoria

Gozo se hoofstad word Victoria genoem... sommige mense praat nog van Rabat, soos dit gedurende die Turkse besetting bekendgestaan het.
    Dis 'n rustige stadjie, maar wel die besigste op die eiland met sy inwonertal van 30 000. Die grootste aantrekkingskrag is die pas geresoureerde Citadella.  'n Dag daar tussen die mure en die museums was te min en ek moes teruggaan om verder te verken.  Hier is my ervaring van die kerk en die omgewing...

 Die katedraal van Gozo met sy barokfasade

             My voet op die marmervloer vol herdenkingstene van belangrike afgestorwenes

Die tempel van die reuse op Gozo

'n Hoogtepunt van my besoek aan Gozo was die tempelkompleks buite Xaghra...

Bron: Wikipedia: 

Ġgantija ("Giants' Tower") is amegalithic temple complex from the Neolithic on the Mediterranean island of Gozo. The Ġgantija temples are the earliest of the Megalithic Temples of Malta. The Ġgantija temples are older than the pyramids of Egypt. Their makers erected the two Ġgantija temples during theNeolithic (c. 3600–2500 BCE), which makes these temples more than 5500 years old and the world's second oldest manmade religious structures after Göbekli Tepe. Together with other similar structures, these have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Megalithic Temples of Malta.

The temples were possibly the site of a fertility rites; archeologists believe that the numerous figurines and statues found on site are connected with that cult. According to local Gozitan folklore, a giantess who ate nothing but broad beans and honey bore a child from a man of the common people. With the child hanging from her shoulder, built these temples and used them as places of worship.

Verdere inlligting by:     http://www.sacred-destinations.com/malta/ggantija-temples

                  Kunstenaar se voorstelling van hoe die groot klippe gerol is na die tempelterrein

                                                          peule van die karobboom