2 Weeks ago I went to the little country of Malta, which is just south of Sicily. At about 96% Catholic, it is the most Catholic country in the world. It has an interesting history of over 7000 years. Some of the stonehenge-like temples are supposed to be from 3500BC. In the year 60AD, St. Paul was shipwrecked (in Acts) and then stayed on the island for about 3 months. He basically converted the island while he was there. It has switched hands from the Roman Empire, to the Byzantines, and then to the Arabs in the 9th Century, which makes for a Semitic-based language. In the 16th C., the Ottoman (Muslims) tried to take it from the Knights of St. John...big mistake. We got to walk through a less than politically correct audio tour detailing how the Knights "decimated the Muslims" in a sort of Cinderella story. We saw some of the great sites of St. Paul, like where he was shipwrecked and imprisoned for 3 months, and where he celebrated his first Mass on the island. In the background of this picture, you can see the Mosta Dome, which I think is the 2nd largest free-standing dome, only smaller than the Pantheon.
...All for about $200 US dollars.
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