The Order of Malta

Well, in the center of Rome lies the smallest country in the world, and it’s not Vatican.

The country is called the Order of Malta. Please don’t confuse it with Malta. Malta is a completely different country located on an island south of Italy. However, the names are still similar for a reason. Malta indeed was part of the Order of Malta...

Please allow me to add up a bit of intrigue to this story. In fact, “Order of Malta” is not a full name of the country. From now, I’ll start telling a short history of it, and to Reader I suggest following the colored words.

It all started in 1048 when a group of knights gathered and decided to build a military hospital in Israel. They named the hospital after Saint John, and themselves — the Hospitallers.

In those times, knights often formed communities known as “knightly orders.” The reader has probably heard of the Templars and the Teutonic Order in history classes. The Hospitallers were also such a knightly order.

A knightly order is such a medieval PMC, a private military company. Knights primarily engaged in defending Christian lands, protecting pilgrims, and participating in crusades against Muslims. Typically, this was the initial purpose behind the creation of an order.

The Hospitallers were different. The name is not by chance similar to the word “hospital.” Initially, this knightly order was created to care for the poor and sick Christians, as well as to treat wounded pilgrims. It only became military fifty years later when began the First Crusade.

As a result of this crusade, the knights took Jerusalem from the Muslims, but not for long. Just a hundred years later, the holy city was once again in the hands of Islam. Then the Hospitallers fleed first to Cyprus, and then to Rhodes.

At that time, the Mediterranean Sea was swarming with pirates, so the crusaders had to quickly retrain as builders. They fortified the tiny island of Rhodes so well that for 200 years, not only pirates but even Muslims found it impossible to conquer.

And yet Rhodes fell. In the Mediterranean Sea, a new incredible force emerged — the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Eager to showcase the full power of Islam and simultaneously avenge the detested crusaders, Suleiman decided to crush Rhodes at any cost. He assembled an army of 150 thousand soldiers and led it against the unfortunate island defended by only 6 thousand people.

The siege of the fortress lasted for six months. The fortress withstood over a thousand cannon shots per day, but the Turkish forces were overwhelming. Despite losing around 40 thousand men, they eventually took Rhodes and expelled the Hospitallers, who quickly found a new refuge on the island of Malta.

Upon learning of this, Suleiman the Magnificent once again attempted to destroy the knights and assembled a new army, this time smaller: only 40 thousand men. After besieging Malta for 4 months and losing 35 thousand soldiers, for the first time in many years Suleiman’s army faced a force it could not resist. The belief in the invincibility of the Ottoman Empire was undermined.

Now it’s time to learn the full name of the country. It is called as follows:

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta.

The country’s name simply lists all the places where knights from the Order of Hospitallers once lived. It turns out that the Order of Malta is like a nomad state that, like a rolling stone, roamed across the entire Mediterranean. And while it roamed, it lost all territories.

The last territory, island of Malta — was seized from the Order by Napoleon while he was on his campaign to Egypt. At that point, the Order of Malta had absolutely no territory left except for two mansions in Rome. So these two now are considered the territory of the country!

No, seriously. In the center of Rome stands an unremarkable house.

Its facade is adorned with red flags featuring a white cross.

On the corner hangs a splendid bas-relief depicting the Maltese cross with an inscription carved above: here is located the Order of Malta.

A sign on the entrance door declares that this is not just a house, but an extraterritorial possession of the Order of Malta. This means that the territory of the mansion is not part of Italy. And yes, Italy is aware.

It’s not possible to enter the territory of the mansion, there are gates at the entrance. If there is a significant reason for the visit, you can ring the bell, and a Hospitaller will open the doors. I did not have such a reason, but the arch is also considered part of the Order’s territory, so technically I visited the country.

By the way, the mansion is called the Magistral Palace. This is because the President of the Order is called the Grand Master, and he happens to reside in this mansion.

Judging by the photos on the internet, there is nothing interesting there. Behind the gates is a small courtyard with makeshift parking.

The palace itself, with its sparse interior, reminds of the Lenin Museum in Ulyanovsk.

This is the first mansion. The second one is located a little further away, on the Aventine Hill. It is called the Magistral Villa because the Grand Master has a dacha there.

Like the palace, the villa is officially not a territory of Italy.

Actually, the Order of Malta only seems like a profanation. If you delve into it, it is actually a full-fledged country no worse than Vatican. The order has its territory, albeit small. It has its own currency, stamps, and even its own passport, which is recognized by a whopping 113 countries!

At one point, this realized one Italian architect and proposed an interesting project. The thing is, the garden of the Magistral Villa directly faces Vatican. The architect suggested creating an observation hole in the villa’s doors. If one looks through this hole, resembling a keyhole, he can simultaneously see three countries: Italy, Vatican, and the Order of Malta!

That’s why there is a constant queue of tourists at the villa around the clock.

Everyone wants to look through the keyhole.

A stroke of luck. A car with some VIP pulled up to the villa’s doors, and the doors swung open right in front of me.

Behind the doors, appeared a tunnel through the bushes that led somewhere into the garden. Right in the center of the tunnel stood the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican.

Exceptionally precise math!

By the way, I lied a bit. In addition to the two mansions in Rome, the Order of Malta has another property. In 1998, the order leased an ancient fortress for 99 years, which was originally built by the Hospitallers themselves for protection against the Ottoman Empire.

Although this fort is not recognized as a completely independent territory of the Order, the Order of Malta has almost full control over it. It is called Fort St. Angelo, and it is located... in Malta, city of Valletta.

And that’s where we are heading now.