Religious

In the year 60 AD an event took place that is comprehensively described in the Bible: the shipwreck of the apostle Paul. According to the legend this shipwreck took place at St. Paul's Bay. Tradition has it, that St. Paul converted the Maltese to Christianity, and the grotto where the saint is said to have taken refuge and preached to the locals after his shipwreck on Malta still stands beneath the beautiful church also dedicated to St. Paul. The legacy of Malta’s chequered history as a bastion of Christianity and an island fortress is still very much evident. There are over three hundred chapels and churches on the island, many of them intricately decorated with paintings, frescos, and tapestries.