Valletta city of the Knights of St John photo : Oliver Gatt/BDL books Malta

I visited the Mediterranean island in 2008 for a conference, as we flew in I noted the lack of greenery and the arid landscape I doubted this country would have anything to please me, I was wrong. The following year and almost every year since Richard and I return and each time the country offers up another element of interest, and several that we will keep returning to.

The island is only 316 km2 (122 sq mi) and it can offer a vast rang of interest from megalithic burial chambers dating back to 4000BC to a Parliament building by Renzo Piano.

The new Parliament building by Renzo Piano Workshop. Local limestone relates to the heritage stone walls while the angled laser cutting is deliberately modern.

It's a spectacularly fortified island after being given to the Knights Templars in 1530, it's the island Caravaggio fled to and painted the beheading of John the Baptist.

Caravaggio's masterpiece is located in the Oratory of St. John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta: The Beheading of St. John (1608)

The entire island of Malta was awarded the George Cross for it's tenacity in the second world war against the Germans and the Italians. Architect and academic Richard England lives and practiced there and artist Victor Passmore lived in Malta from 1966 until his death in 1998.

We stay at the Phoenicia - a place frequented by the late Queen Elizabeth II when living in Malta as a newlywed naval officer’s wife between 1949 and 1951. When we first stayed part of the charm was it was 'frayed at the edges' and we loved it. Scroll forward three owners and it has definitely been upgraded. But the Phoenicia must be careful not to lose it's sense of place. I'd hate to wake up in my room and think I could be in London, Milan or worse - Dubai.

In 2013 The Barrakka lift in Valletta, by the architects AP Valletta, won a WAF award, it was the smallest project in its category. Considering the vast quantity of architectural heritage on such a small island it's not surprising that AP directors are amongst the editors of the Routledge Handbook for Sustainable Heritage.

The Barrakka lift by AP Valletta transports from inside the ditch of Valletta's fortifications and links the Grand Harbour to Upper Barrakka Gardens and the City.

There have been some truly dreadful and inappropriate developments in Malta but luckily Valletta is saved by being a Unesco World Heritage Site and has the added charm of a scattering of properties that appear abandoned.

Abandoned and shuttered shop front Valletta

Unless you're happy with temperatures over 30 degrees - don't go after mid June, July or August.

And no I haven't been sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority - but I'm open to an offer ........................

all images ©Richard Bryant except Valletta aerial ©Oliver Gatt/BDL Books Malta.

Lynne Bryant.Musings, a life with photography and architecture.