The Island of the Knights

The Island of the Knights April is the last useful month I have to take a few days' holiday before the summer season ties me to work. Let me say from the outset that my trips always have a double purpose: diving and culture. Saturday evening pizza with Marina and Osvaldo, Carla my wife, and me; the proposal is a short trip to Malta so as to satisfy everyone. Monday afternoon the booking is well and truly done, for the first time as a self-taught traveller online, simple and quick. Malta, an island with a glorious past and rich in history, has managed to preserve monuments and testimonies from every era. Thanks to its natural harbours it has been a strategic point and a power in the Mediterranean Sea. Many are the civilisations that have left their traces, from the Neolithic temple of 5000 years before Christ, older than the Egyptian pyramids.

Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Castilians, French, English and finally the Knights of the Order of St John, who governed Malta for three hundred years until 1798, leaving an indelible and highly fascinating mark. The Knights were nobles from the most important European houses, invested with a fundamental mission: to protect the Catholic faith and Europe from the attacks of the Ottoman Turks. The Co-Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Valletta, which I recommend you visit, is a unique monument. Its historical and artistic importance comes from having served for over two hundred years as the conventual church of the Order of the Knights of St John. Between Sicily, Tunisia and Libya, Malta is the largest island of a varied and picturesque archipelago with high, rugged coasts, deep inlets and beautiful beaches and cliffs.

Departure from Treviso Airport with a direct flight to Malta with Ryanair, less than two hours of travel and a warm and healthy climate welcomes us with almost 30 degrees C. The hotel is comfortable but a little noisy due to some school groups; I'd recommend booking four-star or higher establishments so as to avoid surprises. The location chosen is St Julian's, next to the famous Paceville area where cafes, restaurants and shops offer leisure and shopping. The seafront is wonderful and offers endless walks, even in the evening. In Malta, after a day of sun and culture, you can take advantage of the famous Casino which stands on a splendid 19th-century complex built on a rocky spur between St Julian's Bay and St George's Bay.

Given its closeness to the hotel, I put my trust in Cresta Diving, where Giacomo, the owner, Casey and David, his assistants, welcomed me like an old friend they hadn't seen for a long time, to the astonished surprise of my friends who a moment later asked me if I already knew them from before. I would consider the service offered by the Diving Centre excellent, from the transport, including of my loved ones, to the professionalism in choosing the dive sites to the care of the equipment; the Diving Centre hasn't been open long, but its clientele is already numerous. The dives are in a sea that is among the most intact in the Mediterranean, with flat coves of golden rock. Its seabeds, rich in grottoes, caverns and crevices, offer ideal conditions for abundant animal life and are a paradise for divers.

On the island there are about 30 Diving Centres including those of the nearby island of Gozo; the island of the nymph Calypso is known to the ancients as Ogygia, where Ulysses was held prisoner by love by the nymph herself for seven years, but which I did not have time to visit. I trust, however, in a future return, so as to give myself the chance to meet the friends of Cresta again and continue my account. A final consideration I reserve for the hospitality of a people who have centuries of welcoming those who arrive from the sea behind them, framing what will be a different, fascinating and unforgettable holiday.