The Knights Hospitallers

Malta ... is, above all, for the tourist, the Knights of the Order. In fact, the cross is strongly present in the iconography of the island. The contemporary members of the order don't roam the streets of Valletta. In search of the Knights, discover portraits of the Great Matre in the museums; also the armor of warriors and powerful cannons of the following centuries. It's the Warrior role which is mostly retained in popular imagination, and not as carers or nurses who also existed. Souvenir shops abound, and are stocked full of medieval costumes with weapons.