It has been said that, small as it is, Malta has more churches than there are days of the year. I do not know if this is true but Valletta itself has many churches and as well as the village churches there are many very small wayside chapels scattered throughout the island.

Having been brought up as an Anglican in Australia, where nothing is very old, the churches in Malta were a real eye-opener.

Other than St John's Co-Cathedral, where one had to join a queue to buy a ticket and get in, the first church I visited was St Paul's Shipwreck which I stumbled on quite accidentally on my way back to the hotel one evening. I think that I entered through a side entrance as the door was in Triq Santa Lucija, not Triq San Pawl. It was just a doorway opening onto the street but it had a welcome sign outside so I took the opportunity to go in and found myself in a building of astonishing beauty.

It was empty of tourists and the peace and quiet were wonderful after the crowds I'd encountered on the streets of Valletta. I returned several times just to sit and look at the decorations and to absorb the atmosphere. I took some photos but as I was not able to use my flash they did not turn out in any reproducable form, even after editing.

I visited St John's Co-Cathedral twice - once on my own and once with my daughter. It was full of those ubiquitous tourists and equally ubiquitous scaffolding, as repairs were being carried out to a couple of the chapels, so it was hard to imagine what it might be like empty of tourists and restorers. I searched for the silver doors but was unable to find them.

Before my next visit I'll get specific instructions as to the location of the silver doors and buy some postcards of the interior because once again I was unable to use my flashlight and my photos do not give a true picture of what it is like; in fact they are almost unusable and this picture was found on the internet - my thanks go to the unknown photographer - it was the only photo I found which gives an idea of what the interior is like.

The Interior of St John's Co-Cathedral

The floor of the Cathedral is inlaid marble and marks the graves of priests and Knights of the Order of St John. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

The museum attached to the Co-cathedral was very interesting with a display of leatherbound volumes of early church music and a room full of richly embroidered vestments which had been used during the time when the Knights of St John held sway. Most of the vestments were gifted to the church by the Grand Masters of the Order.

My daughter and I decided to see the Anglican Cathedral but we did not go inside as it seemed to be rather unwelcoming and I felt daunted by it.

We visited the cathedrals at Mdina and Victoria where I was able to use my flashlight, making my photography more successful.

See MDINA and GOZO for those photos.

In Vittoriosa, in the Inquisitor's Palace, there was a small private chapel.

In the Inquisitor's Palace there was a small private chapel, pictured above; also a portable altar displayed with the doors open. I understood from what we were told during a tour which we did of the Casa Rocca Piccola that only two of these altars are displayed open.

Portable Altar, Inquisitor's Palace, Vittoriosa