Mapping the Millennium: A Thousand Years of Maps from the

Hill Monastic Manuscript Library

The 1999 Fall Exhibit at the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library

Maps of Malta

(Text and images from the exhibit)

The tiny island of Malta, located off the coast of Sicily, gained international importance in 1530 when it became the new home of the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, thereafter known as the Knights of Malta. The Knights found a sparsely populated island with one city (called Mdina, meaning "City"), no water supply, but a superb harbor. The Knights of Malta fought against the Ottoman Turks, and became famous for having withstood the Turkish Siege of Malta in 1565. The maps of Malta in the collection of the Malta Study Center show the population growth and development of Malta under the Knights. The navigational charts show its importance as a strategic Mediterranean port.

(Click on thumbnail for enlarged image)

melthumb.jpg (14383 bytes)

 Map of Malta, Gozo, and Comino

From Insulae Melitae descriptio ex commentariis rerum quotidianarum, by F. Ioannes Quintini Hedvi. Printed by Sebastian Gryphium, Lugduni, 1536.

The Islands of Malta and Gozo

Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam, 1662-1664

This hand-colored map not only shows the physical features of Malta and Gozo; it also depicts the mission of the Knights of Malta to fight the Turks.

maltethumb.jpg (14981 bytes) L’Isle de Malthe (The Island of Malta)

Published by Sr. de Fer, Paris, 1694.
fortthumb.jpg (17394 bytes) Plans des vieilles et nouvelles fortif de Malthe (Plan of the old and new fortifications of Malta)

Published by Sr. de Fer, Paris, 1694.
 valthumb.jpg (16107 bytes) La Cittą della Valetta nell’ isola di Malta (The City of Valletta on the Island of Malta)

Italian, late eighteenth century.

Thumbnail of Boisgelin's Map of Malta  

A New Sea & Land Chart of the Sovereign Principality of Malta

From Ancient and Modern Malta, by Louis de Boisgelin. Printed by Richard Phillips, London, 1805.  

This page created 1 March 2000 by Dr. Theresa M. Vann  
All images remain the property of the Malta Study Center, Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, and may not be reproduced without permission.
Hill Monastic Manuscript Library
Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321, USA
Phone: 320-363-3514/ Fax: 320-363-3222/ E-mail: Malta Study Center