Valletta will next month host a very unusual group of tourists seeking to pay tribute to one of Scotland's finest writers, Dorothy Dunnett, who wrote a novel about the Knights.
Dunnett, who died in 2001, has been described by the Washington Post as "the greatest living writer of historical fiction".
One hundred tourists from Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Ireland and Germany will converge on Malta for a conference on her work between October 17 and 20.
As well as lectures, readings and celebrations, the group will travel extensively throughout the islands examining the sites used by Dunnett in her best-selling historical novel The Disorderly Knights.
The conference is being organised by Simon Hedges and Cindy Byrne in association with the Dorothy Dunnett Readers' Association. The two friends came up with the idea after a trip to Malta in 1999, and preparations began in earnest last year after the previous International Dunnett Gathering in New Orleans.
Helped by Ray Cassar of Heritage Malta, they were able to plan a gathering that would make the most of the island's rich cultural history.
The Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa was chosen as the setting for the gala meal at the end of the trip. This building has a particular resonance for the group as it was in existence at the time of the Dragut raid of 1551, when the novel is set, and before the building of Valletta.
Regarded as a historical novelist of unparalleled brilliance by her readers, Dunnett has inspired a flourishing fan base with a quarterly magazine, regular gatherings and dozens of internet chat sites, all devoted to her fiendishly addictive plots.
She is perhaps best loved for her six-book series, The Lymond Chronicles, which follow the career of a 16th century Scottish aristocrat and mercenary, Francis Crawford of Lymond.
Her work demands that the reader becomes familiar with the historical events she is describing, consequently the Dunnett websites have been concentrating on the heritage, culture and way of life of the Maltese people, past and present.
In recent weeks discussions have ranged from Maltese ceramics to fenkata meals, the Sette Giugno events and correct pronunciation.