Malta: plenty of knights but few falcons

Valetta in the morning, with a view of the cathedral, but not a bird of prey in sight.. . 

by Steenie Harvey

Remember how that classic Hollywood movie, The Maltese Falcon , begins? "In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta paid tribute to Charles V of Spain by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels… but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."

Serving the poor

Oddly enough, the island refuses to cash in on this famous fantasy. In Malta's capital, Valletta, souvenir shops seem curiously lacking in birds of prey in any shape or form. Admittedly, the links to the 1941 movie starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade are tenuous. For a start, the Knights' nominal "rent" for staying on the island was two live falcons-not a bejeweled ornament. And they weren't Knights Templar. Rather, they belonged to the Hospitalier Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Mostly wealthy European aristocrats, their mission was to serve the poor and defend the Catholic faith.

Enthusiastic warriors when it came to smiting Turks and pirates, they also founded hospitals and tended to the sick of any race or religion. Even the Grand Master took his turn at ward duty. Their main hospital in Valletta was the Sacra Infermeria-which now houses an audiovisual show called The Malta Experience.

History brought to life

Not that you need to visit it-Valletta itself is history brought to life. Surrounding the city are ancient bastion walls of golden stone once defended by the Knights. Deep in its streets are the auberges (lodges) where they lived, the gardens where they relaxed… and the church where they were buried.

St. John's Cathedral stands as a glorious tribute to the Knights' wealth and power. Its floor is entirely covered over by slabs of colored marble, each one a pictorial memento mori to the Knight who lies below. Many feature skulls and cherubs, battle weapons, and heraldic symbols.

Even if you don't know your Rembrandts from your Renoirs, don't miss the stunning Caravaggio painting of The Beheading of John the Baptist displayed in the oratory, just outside the Cathedral Museum. The renowned Italian painter became a Knight himself, but not for long. After just two months' membership in the Order, he was imprisoned in Fort St. Angelo for committing murder.

P.S. Everybody on both Malta and Gozo speaks English-the islands were British colonies until 1964. However local people do converse in Malti among themselves. Curiously, this Semitic language is peppered with English phrases. To foreign ears, it sounds like an incomprehensible babble-until you hear oddities such as "eight-foot-long" and "at half past two" inserted into the conversation