According to abbreviationfinder, Valletta is the capital of Malta. It is located on the main island and has about 100,000 residents. Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for the number of impressive monuments and places it has.
History
It was founded in the 16th century, one of the first works that was carried out was the Church of Our Lady of Victory. It is the economic and financial center of the country, its shopping streets, its commercial port, its bars and restaurants, its metropolitan area are its economic engine and that of the country.
Demography
The population has decreased, gradually over the years, to a third of what it was in its peak. This process was accelerated after the Second World War with the development of the suburbs, and the transfer of many people to them. See population of Malta.
This factor has led to the city no longer being the largest populated in the country, as it is surpassed by the town of Birkirkara. However, it remains the economic and administrative center of the country.
Geography
The Valletta peninsula, where the natural ports of Marsamxett and Grand Harbor are located, together form the most important port in the country. It has unloading docks and a recently built cruise terminal in Grand Harbor, along the old sea wall.
One of the suburbs of Valletta, Floriana, was built on the outside of the bastions of the city and on the inside of the defenses of Floriana, located in a space between both defense lines capable of housing those who did not have enough money to buy a house in Valletta. Another neighborhood with similar characteristics is Manderaggio, initially designed by the Order to receive sailors.
However, this purpose could not be carried out and the homeless people took over the area, resulting in a tangle of buildings with dark alleys and serious deficiencies in sanitary conditions. Manderaggio was partially demolished in the 1950s to build a residential area.
Places of interest
Among the most interesting places to visit is the historic center, as well as the monuments that can be visited in it, among which the Church of Our Lady of Victory, the Cathedral of San Juan or the different fortifications stands out. It also has a series of museums with a rich and extensive history about this country.
The hostel of Castilla y León
During World War II the Three Cities were heavily bombarded by the Germans and evacuated; during a month in 1942 more than 5000 German bombs were counted.
In Senglea, where the footprint of World War II was reflected in many buildings that had to be rebuilt, Churches such as Nuestra Señora de la Victoria and the Church of San Felipe stand out. The bastions overlooking the harbor with the Safe Haven garden are peculiar, from where you can contemplate a beautiful view of the Grand Harbor and its fortifications. And there is a guard tower in which an ear and an eye are sculpted, a symbol of its function of surveillance and control of the Port.
Vittoriosa is the most interesting of the Three Cities. Its old town of medieval origin, expanded upon arrival in the archipelago by the Knights of the Order of Malta, is impressive. It is worth visiting the Maritime Museum and watching the video with the History of Malta and going to Sant ‘Angelo Castle, from where the views of Valletta and the Grand Harbor are spectacular.
Cospicua was also totally remodeled after the bombings of World War II. It is a practically industrial city, but in its defensive walls that surround it, the Margherita Gate and the Rock Gate stand out. Malta still has shipyards in Cospicua and Senglea. Since the Middle Ages, shipbuilding and repair has been the island’s main industry.
The Mallorcan Nicolás Cotoner (Baron of Negroponto), guide and promoter with his brother Rafael in 1670 of the construction of a line of fortifications that was to protect the Three Cities from possible attacks by the Turkish army, gave the Three Cities a dimension hitherto unknown. Since then, they are also known as Cotoneras, in honor of such an illustrious and remembered character.
On the Cotonera Line, the fort Ricasoli or the fort San Rocco stand out, the latter the scene of the filming of some movies. The Grand Harbor is one of the deepest in the world, where various European and American cruise lines dock daily, so that hundreds of tourists can enjoy and visit the Island of Malta.
