VALLETTA is a late 16th-century town, planned according to Renaissance ideas. Disraeli wrote that "it equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe." It was created as a completely new town and now stands complete with bastions and powerful cavaliers, still in the state that Francesco Laparelli left them, defying the passage of time

ST JOHN'S CO-CATHEDRAL is historically and artistically one of the most important monuments of the island: "the most striking interior I have ever seen," Declared Sir Walter Scott. The building of the Conventual Church began in 1573 by Grand Master Jean l'Eveque de la Cassi. Four hundred memorial slabs cover its floor, all in-laid with soft coloured mosaics of marble. The Beheading of St John the Baptist by the mercurial Caravaggio can be seen in the Oratory, as well as a set of 28 Flemish tapestries woven in Brussels.

THE GRAND MASTERS' PALACE is sited half-way down Republic Street. There is also the Armoury of the Knights where arms and armour of various periods are displayed. In the Tapestry Chamber can be seen the priceless Gobelin tapestries.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY in the Auberge de Provence is also in Republic Street. This Auberge was one of the inns of the knights. On display in the museum are collections of pregistoric pottery, statuettes, stone tools and personal and other ornaments from megalithic temples and other prehistoric sites. This museum occasionally exhibits the work of contemporary local and foreign artists.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS is in South Street just off Republic Street. It is housed in the former Admiralty House. Although modest in size it offers the visitor an interesting collection of paintings of such masters as Guido Reni, Jusepe Ribera and Mattia Preti together with a selection of the foremost schools from the 14th century to the beginning of the 20th century. This is the largest single collection of paintings in Malta.

THE WAR MUSEUM is located in a Fort St Elmo, Valletta. The fort itself played a significant part in the Great Siege of 1565 as well as against the Italian E-Boat attack in 1941. The museum has exhibits relating mostly to the World War II.

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY This colonnaded and classical building dominates Republic Square. It is the depository of the original documents dating from 1107 recording the administration of the Order of St John over the first seven centuries of its existance up tp 1798 - some four million documents.

ST PAUL SHIPWRECKED CHURCH is a "hidden gem" and not to be missed. Entrance through St Lucia Street or St Paul Street. THE GRAND HARBOUR was a focal point during the Great Siege of 1565 and also during World War II. This historic port has been the economic lifeline of Malta ever since the dawn of history.

MANOEL THEATRE Malta's National Theatre was built by the Portugese Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena for "the honest entertainment of the people". The first-ever public performance took place on January 9, 1732, making the Manoel one of the oldest functioning theatres in Europe.

AUBERGES They were designed by the brilliant Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar. In Valletta one can still see the Auberge the Baviére facing Marsamxett Harbour, Auberge d'Aragon, Auberge de Castille at Leon, Auberge d'Italie (now the General Post Office) and Auberge de Provence (National Museum of Archaeology). BASTIONS These are the most prominent of Maltese architecture. The ingredient used is a soft limestone. Mile upon mile of fortified curtains and bastions rise from the solid groung and seem an integral part of the scene. One can see them in Valletta, the Three Cities and Mdina.

THE MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE CENTRE The Sacra Infermeria, referred to in the past as the Knights' Hall, is a good example of Renaissance architecture in Valletta. The original nucleus of the Sacra Infermeria became operative in 1578 during the reign of Grand Master de la Cassire. The Sacra Infermeria was restored in 1979 and has since been housing the Mediterranean Conference Centre. The conference and exhibition facilities of the centre have hosted a wide variety of international meetings and events. The Malta Experience, an excellent multi-vision show introducing visitors to Malta and its people, can be seen in Fort St Elmo just across the street from the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

PUBLIC GARDENS For a memorable view of the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities, go to the Upper Barracca Grdens, or the Lower Barracca Gardens with its well-known monument to Sir Alexander Ball. Hastings are set on the bastions overlooking Floriana. The Argotti Botanical Gardens are also worth a visit as are the historical San Maison Gardens. Near Verdala Palace are the Buskett Gardens.

MDINA the old capital of Malta and is a typical medieval town situated in the centre of the Island. The Cathedral was rebuilt in 1697 and is believed to stand on the site originally occupied by the villa belonging to Publius, the island's headman at the time of St Paul's shipwreck. The Cathedral Museum contains various art treasures, including a fine collection of Durer woodcuts and paintings. The National Museum of Natural History, situated at Vilhena Palace, within Mdina, houses seven sections comprising both local foreign collections including skeletal anatomy, fish, fossils and so on. Norman House or Palazzo Falzon is the most complete of Mdina's medieval buildings. It stands at the end of Villegaignon Street, named after the Knight of Malta Nicolas Durand, Seigneur de Villegaignon, who organised the defence of Mdina against a threatened Turkish attack in 1551. Norman House is a private house whose owner generously gave it to the nation. At the Mdina Dungeons, inside the main entrance gate to Mdina, one finds tableaux of events and characters from the past portrayed with startling realism, revealing stories sometimes too dramatic to be believed. The Medieval Times, is a spectacular of the 14th and 15th century Malta, housed at Palazzo Costanzo, Mdina. An adventure where the life, sounds and smells of medieval times are displayed.

ST AGATHA'S AND ST PAUL'S CATACOMBS. These are typical of the underground Christian cemeteries which were common in the 4th century AD. The characteristic feature of the Maltese catacombs is the presence of 'agape tables' hewn out of rock, on which mourners reclined to partake of the funeral wake. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH AND GROTTO Founded in 1575, this is one of the larger parish churches to be built using the plan of a Latin cross. The church fasade was remodelled in 1692 by Lorenzo Gaf? and the main altarpiece is by Stefano Erardi. Beneath the sanctuary is the celebrated Grotto of St Paul where the saint is reputed to have been kept during his stay in Malta in 60 AD.

DINGLI CLIFFS These austere cliffs in the limits of Rabat are as impregnable as the fortifications built by the Knights of St John. As you stroll along them you will come across the most characteristic types of natural landscape. From here you can have a spectacular view of the tiny, uninhabited island of Filfla.

VERDALA PALACE is another legacy of the Knights and this was begun in 1586. A semi-fortified villa, it was built by Fra Hugues de Verdalle on high ground as a summer residence for the Grand Master. THE ROMAN VILLA in the vicinity is worth a visit with its exhibits of Roman Malta.

SAN ANTON PALACE AND GARDENS This Palace and its gardens in Attard are now the President of Malta's official residence, but a large part of the gardens are open to the public. The Palace is named after the gregarious French Grand Master Antoine de Paule (1623-1635) THE THREE CITIES When the Knights first arrived they chose

VITTORIOSA (Birgu) as their home because of its vicinity to Fort St Angelo. Valletta was built after the Great Siege of 1565. On Vittoriosa's seafront is the MARITIME MUSEUM housed in the former Naval Bakery, tells the story of Maltese Maritime history in both wartime and peacetime. Sited so close to the strategic Dockyard, The Three Cities, as they are known, were severely hit in the Second World War II. Other imposing building in Vittoriosa is the Church of St Lawrence and Inquisitor's Palace. COSPICUA / BORMLA has no remarkable buildings but its outer defences, the Cottonera Lines, are worth visiting. The interior of the Church of the Immaculate Conception is typical of most old Maltese parish churches.

SENGLEA, named after Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, had to be almost completely rebuilt after the Second World War. Worth visiting are the Church of St Philip and that of Our Lady of Victories as well as the vedette behind the church.

FORT ST ANGELO built around the 12th century AD, was enlarged and strengthened by the Knights. It protected Vittoriosa. The Knights made it their headquarters and the Grand Master refashioned the residence to serve as his Magisterial Palace Palace on its heights in 1555. It is very similar to the Knights' Crusader Castles and the citadel they raised at Rhodes.

MOSTA As you enter Mosta you immediately recognise the Rotunda, the parish church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. This church was built in the classical style in the middle of the 19th century mainly through the efforts, both technical and financial, of the villagers. It was designed by George Grognet de Vasse. His plan was closely based on that of the Pantheon, in Rome. The foundation stone was laid on May 30, 1833 and the church took 27 years to complete. Apart from the size of its dome, it is well-known because on April 9, 1942 at 4 p.m. the Rotunda's majestic dome was pierced by a 500-lb enemy bom whose shell is now exhibited inside the sacristy. The bomb fell in the centre of the church without exploding. Nobody was hurt.

GHAR DALAM is a 144m-long natural cave located about 500m from St George's Bay, Birzebbuga. The cave is renowned for the re-mains of the characteristic dwarf prehistoric fauna recovered from its deposits. The massive stalactites and stalagmites which contain reveal its very great antiquity.

GHAR HASAN in the south of the island, near Hal Far is a huge cave with a large window in the cliff-face rising perpendicularly out of the water. MEGALITHIC TEMPLES, TARXIEN Malta can boast of a number of megalithic temples sited all over the island. The Tarxien complex consists of three linked temples. These temples were erected in the fourth and third millenium BC. Professor Renfrew referred to the megalithic temples of Malta as "the earliest free-standing stone monuments in the world". HAGAR QIM is unique among the Maltese temples because globigerina limestone was used throughout its construction. There are complicated decorations carved on some of the stones, an oracular chamber and altars.

MNAJDRA TEMPLE is a short walk down the hill from Hagar Qim. HYPOGEUM (Circa 2400 BC) This is a prehistoric underground burial ground 12 metres below street level situated in Paola. It consists of a system of caves, passages and cubicles cut in the rocks. CART RUTS These are mostly found on the exposed surface of outcrops of the harder coralline limestone. The most widely accepted dating for our ancient cart ruts is the Bronze Age, roughly between 1500 and 700 BC. Some archaelogists tend to believe that they were intended for the transport of heavy blocks of stone from the quarry face. MARSAXLOKK is Malta's largest fishing village. You stroll here to watch fishermen, their boats and nets or to have a meal or snack. On Sunday mornings there is a lively market. WIED IZ-ZURRIEQ is said to have been the favourite haunt of Governor Sir Walter Norris Congreve and of Admiral Lord Lewis Mountbatten. The former was buried at sea between Filfla and Malta in 1927. This fishing village is on the southern shores of Malta and is a mass of formidable and unassailable cliffs, ravines and gorges. As far back as 1417 the promontory at Wied iz-Zurrieq already served as a look-out station.

BLUE GROTTO Lying beyond the cliffs of Wied iz-Zurrieq, it is compared to Capri's Grotta Azzurra. The Blue Grotto can only be reached by sea either on a motor boat or a rowing boat. It is an attraction with locals and visitors particularly in the summer months when the sea is shimmering and still. The cavern is 40 metres in circumference and reaches a depth of 26 meters. The Blue Grotto faces east and in the early morning, the rays of the sun floodlight the entire grotto, revealing its incandescent beauty. There are stalactites on the roof and its clear waters are like an aquarium full of fish.

SLIEMA/ST JULIAN'S/PACEVILLE This is a lively area all the year round but particularly in summer. With a wide promenade overlooking the sea, in both summer and winter many come to breathe the fresh air and watch the sea - and one another. Restaurants, snack bars, pubs, pizzerias and caf?s are to be found in this pleasure centre of Malta. There are discos, comfortable cinemas, a bowling centre as well as a Casino in a fairytale palace. Just walking around watching others is fun in itself

SANDY BEACHES are largely concentrated in the northwest of Malta. Among the most popular are Ghajn Tuffieha, Mellieha Bay, Golden Bay, Paradise Bay and Armier.

GOZO The short trip from Malta to Gozo is in itself a pleasant experience especially on a fine day. Mgarr Harbour is a picturesque and full of all kinds of seacraft. It has seen slaves and corsairs and pirates who have carried its population away. The neo-Gothic Lourdes Sanctuary, built in 1888, watches over it. In Victoria, the capital, go up to The Citadell or Gran Castello and walk around. Lanes, dwellings, alleys, bastions exude an aura of mystery and date from medieval times. The late medieval houses are unique in the Maltese Islands. There is the magnificent Cathedral and various museums, all worth a visit. The Folklore Museum in a medieval building in the centre of the Citadell, exhibits traditional crafts, trades and pastimes.

GGANTIJA PREHISTORIC TEMPLES in Xaghra were built and developed between 3,600 and 2,400 BC, making them among the earliest architectural planned facades in the world, older than the Pyramids in Egypt, In Xaghra, too, are two underground caves with strange forms of stalactites and stalagmites. The mithna (mill), up the road from Ggantija, where the miller in Xaghra worked and lived until recently, is a museum of traditional trades. TA' PINU sanctuary is a 19th-century building which is dedicated to the miraculous image of Our Lady of Ta' Pinu at the centre of an important Marian cult. This is a centre of pilgrimages for both the Gozitians and the Maltese. Some of the most beautiful scenery in Gozo can be found around DWEJRA in the southwest part of the island. Close to Dwejra Point is the famous Fungus Rock. Nearby is the inland sea ideal for bathing. The Azure Window (photo) created by sea-breakers over a period of thousands of years, is the third marvel to be found at Dwejra Point. RAMLA, XLENDI AND MARSALFORN are the most popular bays in Gozo, though there are others. Ramla Bay is one of the most beautiful sandy beaches of these islands. On the opposite promontory is Calypso's cave. Ramla saw the French troops land under cover of darkness in June 1798. Xlendi is smaller but more dramatic. It has sheer cliffs and some of the cleanest water in the Mediterranean. Marsalforn is relaxed and friendly.

COMINO This forms part of the Maltese Archipelago and is the smallest of the three islands, with two hotels and no cars to disturb the peace. It has a real get-away-from-it-all atmosphere and lovely bathing is available on its rocky and sandy beaches. Comino has to be reached by a 20-minute crossing boat trip from Malta.