I recently returned from a week in Malta – my third visit to this pretty place, to see a pretty girl. On my two previous visits we covered a lot of places, sights and museums so this time round we took it easy on the touristy stuff. That meant that we spent more time at home, at the beach and in the neighbouring village where one of the two annual feasts were taking place.

Feast and fireworks
The Catholic religion plays a big part in many matters on Malta and one of the occasions where it really shines through is when it is time to celebrate the saint of the village. Every village on Malta will have at least one (sometimes two or three) patron saints that will be celebrated once a year with a week of festivities.

Above is the village of Mqabba seen from Zurrieq where Ann lives. Mqabba was celebrating the patron saint Lady of Lilies and raising with blue in her honour.

From I arrived on Wednesday until around Monday there was fireworks going off at the village, day and night. The Maltese seem obsessed with their fireworks in different shapes and sizes and I really got to experience it when we went to Mqabba for the big show on Saturday. First off was the single rounds where various shapes, sizes and colours. My fireworks pictures didn’t t turn out well so watch this video for a better impression.

Feast of our Lady of Lilies fireworks

Inbetween the single rounds was two acts of a so-called pyromusical – fireworks synchronized with music. This was very well choreographed and very impressive to watch. Here is a video of the second act of the pyromusical (Thans to superhuan for putting the video on YouTube):

After the aerial fireworks we moved into the streets of Mqabba where the ground fireworks where to be displayed. Maltese ground fireworks is made with loads of gears, chains, levers and and abundance of fireworks to make it all go around and light it up. Here is one of the installments before it is fired off and another one while on fire.

Mechanised Catherine Wheel, Mqabba Malta

There were probably about 20 of these ground fireworks and each of them was more intricate and impressive than the previous. Again photos and videos doesnt do these devices justice but below is a picture and see a video of it as well (The one in the picture above is cool in action and is on the video at 8:08).

I cant remember how long the different segments lasted but the whole fireworks ordeal lasted about 4 hours – and this was just in a village with 3000 inhabitants. It was really impressive and I cant help to think of the amount of money and hours goes into creating these immense performances.

The connection between fireworks and a religious celebration is a bit lost on me but the next day we went back to the Mqabba for the procession of a statue of the patron saint. The streets and church were decorated, two bands were playing and then the procession passed in front of us with the statue of Lady of Lilies on a huge block carried by 10 men.

Quite an experience to see a Maltese feast. All through the summer the villages across the islands will have similar celebrations.

Farm
Ann’s grandfathers farm is a bit outside of the village where the family lives. One of Ann’s uncles and a couple of the aunts take care of the land and the animals – most of what is produced in the farm is distributed to the family. It’s not a big farm like what I know from Denmark but instead it’s a small stone building and some patches of land around it.

They have all sorts of animals on the farm. They have chickens, ducks, goat, rabbit and sheep and I counted at least five different breeds of dogs from rottweilers to the small thing below.

Forts
The Knights of St. John build a lot of defences and fortifications around the Maltese island during their reign. This time we visited the two forts that played a crucial role in The Great Siege were 30,000 Ottoman troops attacked Malta defended by 500 knights and 3000 Maltese.

The Siege of Malta in 1565 was a clash of unimaginable
brutality, one of the bloodiest – yet most overlooked – battles
ever fought. It was also an event that determined the course of
history, for at stake was the very survival of Christianity.

If vitally strategic Malta fell, the Muslim Ottoman Empire would
soon dominate the Mediterranean. Even Rome would be in peril.

– History’s bloodiest siege used human heads as cannonballs

Fort St. Elmo was small, cut-off and defended by only a small group of soldiers. It was the first to be attacked and see the full force of the Ottoman. The Ottoman general Mustapha Pasha had expected the fort to fall within
three but it held out for 30 days.

After St. Elmo had fallen Fort St. Angelo and Birgu the adjoining peninsula was next to be attacked but eventually the knights and the Maltese prevailed and the Ottoman gave up their attempt to take the island. The image above is from Fort St. Angelo, three guys dressed in what I think must be a 16th or 17th century armour.

Normally the two forts are closed off for the public but the week I was there we got into both of them. Here is the view from Fort St. Angelo over Valletta, a city built after the great siege to improve the defence of the knights and Malta.

About a month ago I read Ironfire by David Ball describing the a couple of key persons in the Mediterranean leading up to and during the Great Siege. A great summer read for a week on the beach.

We went to Fort St. Elmo which now houses the Maltese police academy. Here we saw a reenactment of Napoleons arrival in Malta in 1798 where he kicked out the Knights of St. John. The French only stayed for two years untill they were kicked out themselves by the Maltese and the British.

Another good week with Ann went by too quick and I am back in Prague now. Next is off to Roskilde Festival.