Few Mediterranean ports pack quite as much of a punch as Valletta’s Grand Harbour, its entrance guarded by the twin forts of Saint Elmo and Saint Angelo. To the right, the ramparts of the Maltese capital tower over the waterfront. To the left, narrow inlets packed with pleasure craft divide the communities of the Three Cities. And all around, buildings of honey-coloured stone jostle for position around the water.
Famously described as a city ‘built by gentlemen for gentlemen’, Valletta owes its existence to the Knights of St John, a military and hospitaller order founded in the 11th century to protect Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. Expelled from Rhodes in 1522 by the Turks, the Knights were
