The Co-Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Valletta (1): Caravaggio

Although today Malta’s two official languages are Maltese (a language whose writing system was only codified at the beginning of the 20th century) and English (which the inhabitants speak with a very strong accent, sometimes difficult to understand), Italian remains a language spoken by a large part of the archipelago’s population. This is logical, given Malta’s long historical ties to Sicily and the Italian peninsula, particularly under the influence of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was mainly Italian artists or locals trained in Italy who were active there. Valletta, but also other smaller towns, are so deeply marked by Italian art that one sometimes has the impression of being in Italy.