Malta

Actually true

• The country really is bilingual

  Maltese and English are both official languages, and most people switch fluidly between the two.

• Village festas are taken extremely seriously

  Each town's patron saint festival features fireworks competitions and rival marching bands with fierce local pride.

• Malta has some of the oldest freestanding structures on Earth

  Its megalithic temples, like Ħaġar Qim, predate both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

• The Knights of St John left a massive architectural legacy

  Valletta's fortifications and palaces were built almost entirely under the Order's rule in the 16th century.

Commonly believed, wrong

• "Malta is basically part of Italy"

  It has its own Semitic-rooted language, distinct history of British rule, and separate cultural identity despite Sicilian proximity.

• "It's just a small beach destination"

  Malta's history spans Phoenician, Roman, Arab, Norman, Knights and British periods, layered across a tiny footprint.

• "Everyone there is on holiday"

  Malta has a dense resident population and one of the highest population densities in Europe.

• "There isn't much to eat beyond fish"

  Rabbit stew, pastizzi and Maltese bread reflect a very land-based, historically poor-farmer cuisine too.