Seminar on Italian Opera with Riccardo Muti
An international seminar based on Italian Opera conducted by world renowned conductor Riccardo Muti will take place in Valletta, Malta, to mark the official launch by the Maltese Government of the Mediterranean Music Academy – Malta.[>]
The Maltese Islands
7000 years of history
Megaliths, medieval dungeons and Calypso's Cave – The Maltese Islands are positively mythic. The narrow meandering streets of their towns and villages are crowded with Renaissance cathedrals and Baroque palaces. As the countryside is dotted with the oldest known human structures in the world, the Islands have rightly been described as an open-air museum.
The Maltese archipelago lies virtually at the centre of the Mediterranean, with Malta 93km south of Sicily and 288km north of Africa. The archipelago consists of three islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino with a total population of 400,000 inhabitants over an area of 316sq km and a coastline of 196.8km (not including 56.01 km for the island of Gozo).
Malta is the largest island and the cultural, commercial and administrative centre. Gozo is the second largest island and is more rural, characterised by fishing, tourism, crafts and agriculture while Comino is largely uninhabited.
With superbly sunny weather, expansive beaches, a thriving nightlife and 7,000 years of intriguing history, there is a great deal to see and do. With a little help from any guidebook, captivating places of interest are immediately identified – the world famous Hypogeum selected as a place of World Heritage by UNESCO, prehistoric temples and grand palaces are but a few.
The long relationship between the Islanders and the various nationalities that occupied Malta over the centuries has created a marriage of styles and traditions, giving the Islands a fascinating eclectic culture.
True to the melting pot of cultural influences, the national languages are English and Maltese. The unit of currency is currently the Maltese Lira (Lm), with a central parity rate against the euro of 0.429300.
For more information, log onto visitmalta.com, the official tourist website of the Maltese Islands.