Mark Meek's Ideas: Malta Compared To Jerusalem

Princess Elizabeth lived in Malta before she was Queen, when her husband was stationed there while in the navy.

I have come to the conclusion that the buildings and structures on Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, were intended to resemble Jerusalem, but that this plan has been lost to history. I can find nothing about this resemblance online.

The Knights of St. John, which include various names such as the Knights of Malta and the Knights Hospitaller, built most of the older structures that are seen on Malta today. Upon the beginning of the Crusades, in the Eleventh Century, and the temporary recapture of Jerusalem from the Moslems, a number of orders of Catholic knights were formed to provide protection and medical care to pilgrims who visited Jerusalem.

This order of knights still exists today, in a medical and charitable capacity, and is said to be the only sovereign nation in the world without any territory of it's own.

The Crusades were not a long-term success and the Knights of St. John ultimately withdrew, first to Cyprus and then to Rhodes, from where they did battle with the Ottomans. In 1530, three centuries after the loss of Jerusalem, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V gave the islands of Malta to the order.

They resisted a siege of Malta by the Ottomans, and then set about building a city there. The city on Malta was founded by a French Grand Master of the order, Jean de Valette, and the city was named for him.

The Knights of St. John ruled Malta for a long time, but lost local support. They were removed from power, with the help of Napoleon. But Malta is a religious place, and remains so today, and the French revolutionary hostility to the church was not liked either. British rule was supported and, Sir Alexander Ball, from my native Gloucestershire, was very popular on Malta and had a garden built in his honor.

What I am claiming here is that, when the Knights of St. John built Valletta, and the other buildings that were constructed during their rule of the islands, it was designed to evoke the look of Jerusalem. The topography and plants between the two places are different, although the climate is similar. Obviously, the two cannot be exactly the same because Malta is an island, and based on sea travel, while Jerusalem is inland. Unlike Jerusalem, Malta was Catholic and was never considered as a religious center itself.

Considering that Jerusalem is much older, and thus has been exposed to the elements for longer, the resemblance is striking, particularly in the use of the honey-colored stone. This does not include the newer Ottoman structures in Jerusalem, which were not there during the Crusades, such as the wall around the Old City of Jerusalem.

When immigrants build, they tend to build in the familiar style of their homelands. The original purpose of the Knights of St. John, or the Knights of Malta, was to assist in and around Jerusalem. Should it come as a surprise, that when they build a city of their own three centuries later, that they should build it to resemble Jerusalem? Notice how the sea wall of Valetta and the dome of the cathedral resembles the placement of the wall around the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

Let's begin with a look at the Old City of Jerusalem. These seven images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7772737,35.2338655,2a,75y,185.94h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smAMjTuRRp48AAAQJKf4Log!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DmAMjTuRRp48AAAQJKf4Log%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.05145%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is Malta's capital city of Valletta, beginning in St. John's Co-Cathedral. It is the same city that was named for Jean de Valette, but the name has since been italianized to Valletta. The Maltese language is a Semitic language, related to Arabic, but most people can speak English, and the majority of the population can speak some Italian. Sicily is close enough that broadcasts and television could be received.

The first two images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of St. John's Co-Cathedral. While the outside has Gothic style buttresses the inside looks very Baroque.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.897668,14.5126709,3a,75y,59.23h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPtRE8Hp0Rul-bfTQpFC7-w0Xm6Moa8uBfz0dBP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPtRE8Hp0Rul-bfTQpFC7-w0Xm6Moa8uBfz0dBP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya345.68784-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

Hamrun is just inland from downtown Valletta. The first two images are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.8891819,14.4891824,3a,75y,66.3h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1skGWSjNoHv3nRmDv5T1bXuQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DkGWSjNoHv3nRmDv5T1bXuQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.54425%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

North from downtown, these scenes begin in The Point Shopping Mall. The first two images from the area are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9072521,14.5108505,3a,75y,97.39h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOG8uFkks1AJf6wuF7FQiPqLjF40HEO4ymJ1ckh!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOG8uFkks1AJf6wuF7FQiPqLjF40HEO4ymJ1ckh%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya69.21653-ro-0-fo100!7i8000!8i4000

This is the Sliema area of Valletta.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.914045,14.4976809,3a,75y,126.93h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqmbcM_WRV1KfkkYgLENqIQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DqmbcM_WRV1KfkkYgLENqIQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D132.86217%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

South of downtown, these scenes begin in the Stone Age Tarxien Temples. The first image is from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.8692829,14.5119999,3a,75y,209.36h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssDIb8FB27tU80czFmheVTA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsDIb8FB27tU80czFmheVTA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D204.5053%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Did a miracle take place at Mosta Rotunda? During the Second World War, three bombs dropped by aircraft struck the church while about three hundred people were inside for a service. Two of the bombs bounced off the church, and landed just outside. The third bomb went through the roof, and landed inside the church.

Except that all three bombs, for some reason, did not detonate.

Valletta used to have a great opera house, which was destroyed in the war. Some of the remains are still there today.

Here is the Mosta Rotunda. The first three images are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9100708,14.4258233,3a,75y,107.34h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOUoRJoNzctnSR52yWFYvBEVEXgSeGGQfu5Y27n!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOUoRJoNzctnSR52yWFYvBEVEXgSeGGQfu5Y27n%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya39.085026-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

Notice that the cylindrical shape of the Mosta Rotunda resonates with the form of the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Image from Google Street View. This is why the Knights Hospitaller used to build cylindrical churches, because it was thought that the Dome of the Rock was Solomon's Temple. Another example of a cylindrical church, for the same reason, it the Temple Church in London.

These scenes of Zejtun, to the south of Valetta, begin outside the Parish Church of St. Catherine. With the honey-colored stone, notice how much it resembles Jerusalem. The first two images are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.855586,14.5333441,3a,75y,112.15h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM_upO1HaTXUolBre1nOTEIjNwyKtYfhyft23ec!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM_upO1HaTXUolBre1nOTEIjNwyKtYfhyft23ec%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya232.8732-ro0-fo100!7i2641!8i750

This is Mdina, the old capital of Malta which was founded by the seafaring Phoenicians. St. Paul's Church is believed to have been built on the site of the palace of Publius, who St. Paul met when he was shipwrecked on Malta, as described toward the end of the Acts of the Apostles. Notice how Piazza Mesquita looks like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The first of the following three images are of St. Paul's Church, from Google Earth, the other two are of Piazza Mesquita, from Google Street View.