Flowers at the Great Siege: How Valletta’s Quietest Victory Day Ritual Unites Malta
Valletta’s morning sun had barely cleared the bastions when the first carnations appeared at the foot of the Great Siege Monument. By 9 a.m. the bronze figures of Faith, Fortitude and Civilisation were swimming in a tide of red and white—some blooms still dewy from florists in Hamrun, others wrapped in the plastic sleeves that…