Valletta
No description will ever do justice to Valletta no matter how much one eulogizes.
If Valletta were a wine it would be the humble local red strong full bodied heady
wine, made from grapes grown on the barren hilly slopes and brought to maturity
by the strong august sun. A wine that needs to be savored slowly on a warm
sunny afternoon to fully appreciate its rugged flavour.
And so is Valletta a city whose motto is “Citta Umilissimma “ but can still
stand shoulder to shoulder with any other capital city. A city that was a must
visit on any 18/19th century Grand Tour of Europe. Emperors, Kings and Queens,
Heads of State, and many other dignitaries, have set foot on the shores of Valletta .
One also cannot forget the vast list of authors, painters, poets and other personalities who sailed in Valletta ’s Grand Harbour. Han Christian Andersen, Edward Lear, Sir Walter Scott, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alexander Dumas, and Lord Byron are just a few.
We have included some images which are mere labels of what is contained inside.
Benjamin Disraeli, a future British Prime Minister, visited the city in 1830
and described it as "a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen," and remarked that "Valletta equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe," and in other letters called it "comparable to Venice and Cádiz"
and "full of palaces worthy of Palladio."
Visiting Malta in March 1841, Hans Christian Andersen wrote in his travelogue:
“I 've heard the anchor fall and knew that we were in the harbour of Malta…I had never
before seen brilliance, either under the clear sky of Italy nor in our northern
winter nights….Valletta and all those proud ships here under the world`s
strongest fortress were only the frame for it. The setting was beautifull , one
of the most beautifull I have seen.”
