| We were expressing concern that we packed our bulky London Fog coats uselessly and then it decided to rain today. Yay, we get to use our coats! It wasn't that bad a rain and it quieted down the tourist traffic. We tried to find an Artisan Center that was on the map but, even with Google Maps, we failed on several attempts. We decided to go to the 67 Kapital pub for lunch based upon their web menu promising sandwiches and soup. The kitchen wasn't open yet (it was around 12:30 so they must have been running late) ordered small glasses of beer (stout and white IPA - OK, not exciting) and perused the lunch menu that was handed to us. No sandwiches, no soups, only platters of cheeses, meats, bread, etc. As that wasn't what we were in the mood for we finished our beers and went to Sphinx Pastizzeria. We ordered a Pastizzi Pizelli (smashed pea filled pastry), Pastizzi Rikotta (ricotta filled pastry), Qassatat Spinachi (tuna and spinach roll), and Timpana (pasta pie with penne, bacon, hard boiled egg and minced meat). We walked to the square and found a large unused portico and sat on chairs stowed there by the neighboring restaurant from their outdoor dining to keep them dry. Delicious. The flaky pastry was very buttery. Jo just looked them up and found out how fattening they are so that is likely to be the last we have them. We didn't think to take photos so you will have to use your imagination or look them up online. Lunch finished we took the self-guided tour of St John's Co-Cathedral, founded and dedicated to the Knights of St. John who were "given" Malta by the Pope after they were driven out of Jerusalem during one of the many campaigns of the longstanding conquests of land and booty known as the Crusades. The predominant style of the cathedral is baroque - not leaving an inch undecorated with gilded motifs - with a few instances of neo-classical lines attempting to simplify the saturated figures. The Knights were Hospitalers of the Crusades however, based upon the repetition of death images, weaponry and celebration of the killing and subjugation of Islamic and African "infidels" they seemed very much to be a death cult. The literature and the recorded tour stated that the decorations were to the glory of God and the Virgin however our impression was that it was about the glorification of wealthy and powerful individuals who paid for their tombs (the entire floor was made up of individual marble, finely detailed tombstones) and the grand masters of the order who were honored by three dimensional monuments aligning the walls of each of the side chapels, featuring their busts, their earthly remains, a record of their feats of carnage and enslavement, symbolic references often of pagan origin, and reproductions of their weapons of choice. As is true with the naming of public spaces after the largest corporate donor, the more resources provided by each nobleman/knight related directly to the pomposity of their funeral memorial. The highlight of the cathedral at the end of the tour is the Oratory, originally meant for inspiring novitiates rather than serving as grandiose celebrations of the wealthy and powerful members of various subdivisions of the Order. It features The Beheading of St John as well as other works by Caravaggio. The subdued palate and use of empty space illuminating very human endeavor is a relief after the dense baroque ornamentation depicting martyr warriors and saintly conquerors in as garish a fashion as possible. Ironically, the Order chose these paintings as best to inspire new recruits yet Caravaggio himself only lasted five months with the Knights as he couldn't keep his violent temper aimed only at the infidels and instead took it out on his colleagues. Regretfully access to the paintings is limited so we only could gaze at them from a distance and the museum, where the paintings could be displayed in a manner more advantageous to viewing, was closed for restoration (restorers were actively at work in various locations within the cathedral as we toured). Fortunately his extraordinary painting of St. Jerome has been temporarily moved into the Oratory from the museum so we were able to see that as well. |