Ancient Destinations Malta

Visiting the ancient sites of Malta can be an exciting opportunity to explore a forgotten civilization. Pristine waters and renowned diving sites are not all that await you here. The Maltese Islands (including Gozo and Camino) guarantees to amaze travellers with its incredible ancient temples and mysterious subterranean structures.

Photo: © MaltaVista.net

The best known structures on the Maltese Islands are the Ggantija Temples of Xaghra in Gozo. Archaeologists consider it to be the earliest free-standing monuments of stone in the world. The temples date between 3600-3000 BC. Ggantija has an outer retaining wall of massive stones weighing in the range of 15 tons and reaching a height of up to 5 meters. The temples are cloverleaf in shape and consist of two separate buildings. Both buildings contain a series of altars, shrines and rooms. Some of the stones weigh an estimated 20 tons!

Local legends state that the temples were built by giants who lived on Malta thousands of years ago. Archaeologists maintain Ggantija served as a place where religious rituals were carried out. The truth is very little is known about the history of the Ggantija Temples. (More Photos)

Located in the small town of Paola is an extraordinary subterranean structure known as the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni. According to archaeologists, the site is divided into three levels. The Upper Level (3600-3200 BC), the Middle Level (3300-3000 BC) and the Lower Level (3150-2500 BC). The entire structure is carved out from the living rock and some of the stones in here also weigh 20 tons each. The Hypogeum's chambers and passages are estimated to stretch as far as 500 m underground.

The Upper Level of the Hypogeum consists of corbelled ceilings and large three stoned doorways. The Middle Level consist of several chambers such as the Main Chamber, the Oracle Room, the Holy of Holies, the Decorated Room and the Snake Pit. Spiral paintings of red ochre can be seen on this level. The Lowest Level on the other hand reaches a depth of 10 meters (below surface) and is assumed to be a storage area. Some alternative historians disagree and argue that it was used as a burial chamber instead. The reason being was that tomb like structures were found cut into the walls deep inside there. Many artifacts have been recovered from the Hypogeum's original excavation. For example, the "Sleeping Lady" statuette is one of them and it can be seen today at the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. (More Photos)

Photo: © MaltaVista.net

Located not too far from the mysterious Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni are the Tarxien Temples. They are dated to 2800 BC and consist of three individual temples that are all attached to one another. The temple enclosure contains carved images of domestic animals, spiral designs and a number of patterns. (More Photos)

One bas relief image in particular from the Tarxien Temples is of utmost importance to alternative historians. This image they argue depicts both bulls and a cow that were only alive during the Paleolithic Period. In other words, the Old Stone Age era. As a result, if these animals were around when these temples were erected, then the Tarxien Temples may be significantly much older than previously thought.

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