The reputation of the Amalfi Coast precedes any trip with visions of La Dolce Vita, the stupendous beauty of the coastline and a magical and simpler Italy as seen in “Il Postino”. The reputation is not without some truth but the truth of today’s Amalfi Coast is somewhat more complex. The complexity begins with the probability that you will access Amalfi by flying into Naples Airport. This exercise in chaos is owned by our old friends B.A.A. who are in turn owned by Ferrovival, the Spanish brick company.
The previous year Naples had won the title of “Worst Airport in Europe” and from what I could see it was fighting hard to keep the title. Terminal 2 at Naples demonstrates BAA’s advanced sense of humour. It is a former cargo warehouse which has lost none of its ambience a mile from the airport to which the charter flight cattle are bussed. It has no luggage trolleys (either side!) and the “management response” when you mention this at the Information desk is to make a tannoy announcement which they have pre-printed in 12 languages that “there is a shortage of trolleys for operational reasons.” Indeed.
The ambience of the airport does not convey La Dolce Vita. There are not even proper air-conditioned buildings. We are talking about just a collection of pre-war aircraft-hangers in the middle of the one of the most heavily populated, poorest areas of Naples. Rubbish, barbed-wire fences and concrete covered in graffiti. Passengers are shipped in and out on coaches with no logical system or thought. Staff seem either too busy to help or would rather help their fellow Italians on domestic flights. Even the short runway is so full of potholes and rubbish that the pilots have to use all their skill and experience to take-off and land safely. The whole airport needs to be demolished and re-built outside the city.
Proudly wearing our “We saw Naples Airport and didn’t die” badges we made our escape from this proud gateway, but in dread of the thought that we had to come back through it in another week.
This is the spin on the airport website which promises happiness in the future:
" GESAC, the Naples International Airport Management Company, is committed to an important programme of airport development. By December 2008, new infrastructure will be completed which will make Naples airport more functional, safe and efficient."
Dammed with their own faint praise then that the current set up is not particularly functional, safe or efficient. Time will tell but let me tell you - the current crew are part of the problem with their years of experience of managing chaos and failure. Don't just replace the buildings!!
The island of Malta is the fourth most densely populated place in the world and particularly on the north coast has a very urban character with one town running into the other. For many visitors to the Maltese Archipelago its sister island Gozo is the real deal, less populated, greener, more relaxed and very traditional with a definite sense of identity.
Port of Mgarr which connects Gozo to Malta
In Gozo, don't commit the faux pas of referring to them as Maltese, they are "Gozitans" and even the Maltese will tell you that the Gozitans don't like them! Greener and more atmospheric than Malta even the buses are a different colour, yellow on Malta and grey on Gozo. Gozo meaning “joy” in Castilian is the name the Aragonese gave this island, when they possessed it in 1282. The idea of joy and pleasure is also conveyed by its Latin motto “Fertilis ab undis caput iffero – a fruitful land raising its head from the sea”. We know that the Phoenicians, when it was theirs in 700Bc, called it “Gwl” or Gaulos, meaning a round ship, possibly in reference to the island’s shape from a distance, a name the Romans kept when they, in turn took it over in 218 AD. The Arabs, who came to rule this precious piece of land a thousand years ago, and who strongly influenced its Semitic language, left behind the name that has stuck in the vernacular: Ghawdex (pronounced Aw-desh).
Gozitan Bus
It has an area of 67 square kms, is 14 kms long and 7 kms wide. With a coastline of 43 km, it is the second largest island of the Maltese Archipelago that, together with the smaller isle of Comino and the main island of Malta forms the Republic of Malta. Gozo is popularly called The Island of Calypso, which is a nickname originating from the Greek mythological location of Ogygia referred to in Homer's Odyssey. In this epic poem, the fabled island was controlled by the nymph Calypso, who had detained the Greek hero Odysseus for seven long years as prisoner of love in her cave.
"The cave was sheltered by a copse of alders and fragrant cypresses, which was the roosting place of wide-winged birds, homed owls and falcons and cormorants with long tongues, birds of the coast, whose business takes them down to the sea.
Trailing around the month of the cavern was a thriving garden vine, with great bunches of grapes; from four separate neighbouring springs four crystal rivulets were channeled to run this way and that; and in soft meadows on either side, iris and wild celery flourished.
It was indeed a spot where even an immortal visitor must pause to gaze in wonder and delight. "
The Odyssey, V. 63-74, Bk. 5, Homer
Calypso's Cave
Access to Gozo is pretty easy with a ferry service from the port of Cirkewwa every hour during the day which just takes 20 minutes. The ferries are bright and modern and well run purpose designed boats which even have lifts to the passenger deck. Passenger and vehicle service is provided all the year-round between Mgarr Harbour (Gozo) and Cirkewwa (Malta) including Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays together with a night service throughout the year. It is a pleasant 20 minute crossing skirting Comino, so named for the cumin which was grown there.
Gozo Ferry
Mgarr
From the natural sights and caves to the oldest temples in the world, Gozo has a long history to offer. As a deeply religious population, churches and other religious attractions are also abundant on the island. Various attractions you can visit include the Gozo Museum (historical displays) the Gozo Crafts Centre (good selection of local handicrafts) and the Citadel / Gran Castello. Other island attractions include the Gozo Heritage a series of life-size dioramas depicting the island’s past; pretty Xlendi Bay (on the western coast); and at the red-sanded Ramla Bay the reputed Calypso Cave. Near Xagħra are a number of places to see: two Gigantija Temples (1,000 years older than the Pyramids) and the Alabaster Cave(stalactite and stalagmite caves).
Xlendi Bay
On both Gozo and Malta the Arabs built fortified cities in the centre of the islands as defensive capitals, Mdina on Malta and Rabat on Gozo. Whilst the Gozo capital is shown on maps as Victoria, the locals always refer to it as Rabat, Arabic for “The Town”.
Basilica of St George in Victoria, on the saint's Feast Day.
Even today the roads on Gozo lead up from the coast to Rabat / Victoria and down again. Crowning Rabat and the island is the Citadel from which virtually the whole island and the surrounding seas can be seen. The Citadel is built on one of the many flat-topped hills in the centre of Gozo. The island was very exposed to raiders and up until 1637 the people of Gozo had to take shelter within the Citadel's walls after sunset, due to the frequent Turkish assaults on the island. In 1551 a strong Turkish force overwhelmed the Citadel and carried 6000 of the inhabitants away into slavery. Only 300 Gozitans managed to escape before the capitulation. The walls themselves date from the 16th to the 18th century.
Most of the buildings inside the Citadel are in ruins, but the Old Courts of Law and the Old Governor's Palace are still used as the Law Courts of Gozo. Also there are the Old Prisons with the Armoury of the Knights, the Archeological Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Folklore Museum. The Cathedral with the Bishop's Palace and the Cathedral Museum dominate the Citadel. The Cathedral was designed by the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa, in the form of a Latin cross. It was built between 1697 and 1711 on the site of an older church and it is saying something (given the stiff competition) that it is probably the most atmospheric church on the islands. Many of its treasures are displayed in the adjoining cathedral museum. The Folklore Museum is housed in three late medieval style houses featuring the influence of Sicilian architecture. Exhibits consist of agricultural implements, items related to the cotton industry, tools used in different crafts and some traditional costumes. All archeological material found on Gozo is on display in the Archeological Museum, a 17th century house, known as "Casa Bondi". Of special interest are shards of the Ghar Dalam phase 5000 BC found at Ghajn Abdul, probably the oldest ever found on the Maltese Islands. Also on display are Punic-Hellenistic pottery statuettes, amphorae and anchors.Reflecting the religious Gozitan culture, there is an abundance of churches scattered all over the island.
Gozo - View from the Citadel
The most interesting are the Sanctuary Basilica at Ta' Pinu built from 1920 till 1931in Romanesque style, on the remnants of a 16th century chapel, as well as the Rotunda Church of Xewkija, with the third largest dome in Europe (86 metres in circumference and 75 metres high). Xewkija, which lies in the middle between Mgarr Harbour and Victoria, is the oldest village in Gozo. The village feast of St. John the Baptist falls on 24th June, and the external festivities are celebrated on the closest Sunday. The word Xewkija is derived from Arabic meaning an area of thorny wastelands, common at some point in time. The awesome Rotunda, naturally dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is Xewkija's distinctive landmark and parish church. Tourists and visitors flock year round to visit the church and its attractions. It offers an unforgettable panoramic view of Gozo from its enormous dome. The monumental church is an enormous circular structure in white local limestone. It is called a Rotunda because of its form. Eight concrete columns covered with stone support its elegant dome, 75 metres high, with a 28-metre diameter, and a circumference of 85 metres. This boasts the third largest unsupported dome in the world. Its weight is calculated to around 45,000 tonnes. What is truly remarkable about the Rotunda is that it is totally out of scale with all the other churches on Gozo and it was entirely built by voluntary labour and donations over a 24 year period from 1951. Some of the pride the village feels at its creation can be garnered from the signs on the surprisingly large viewing area on the dome exhorting you to “admire God’s wonderful creation".
Rotunda Church Xewkija
A remnant of Arab culture in the whereabouts of Xewkija is the renowned marble slab of Majmuna (pron. Maimoona) with an inscription in Arabic dating back to 1173. It throws valuable light on life during Arab cultural domination. It also proves that Malta was by that time still under strong Arab influence, even though Arab political domination was ended with the arrival of Count Roger the Norman in 1090.
Gozo is renowned for its cottage industries, particularly spinning and weaving, and the creation of jumpers and jackets from the wool of sheep and goats. Lace is the most widespread doorstep craft. It was introduced on a large scale after the 1840’s. The craft soon proved its worth for the product was sold to the higher classes of society and even abroad. It was very common, especially in the afternoon, to see mothers with their daughters sitting on empty wooden lemonade crates with a lace pillow in their lap rested against the wall, their hands moving bobbins swiftly and deftly creating the most intricate and delicate of designs.
Azur Window
Gozo lace is an object d’art and it continues to flourish despite competition from machine made lace. The men make lace of a different variety: silver filigree, twisted into intricate pieces of jewellery. And there is fabulous glass, with remarkable shapes in subtle shades of blue and green. Pottery is widely available, ranging from decorative pots and statuettes to imaginative house name plaques and door numbers.
Gozo is also remarkable for some of oldest Neolithic remains including at Gigantija the oldest free standing structure in the world. These temples in Xagħra, Gozo, are one of the most important archaeological sites in Malta. The origins of Gigantija date back to the Ggantija phase (3600 – 3200 B.C.). John Otto Bayer was the first to excavate the temples in 1827. Extensive archaeological and restoration work was carried out in the early 20th century to ensure their preservation. The Gigantija megalithic complex consists of two temples surrounded by a massive common boundary wall. One of the most striking features of the entire complex, the boundary wall, is built using the alternating header and stretcher technique, with some of the megaliths exceeding five metres in length and weighing over fifty tons. The temples at Gigantija are built with rough, coralline limestone blocks. Each temple contains five apses connected by a central corridor leading to the innermost trefoil section. The first temple is larger and contains a variety of features such as altars, relief carvings and libation holes. The second temple was built later and is devoid of such features. Also of interest is the corbelling technique evident on the inwardly inclined walls, suggesting that the temple was roofed.
The gigantic dimensions of the megaliths have always struck a chord with popular imagination. In centuries past, some locals even believed that the Islands’ temples, in particular those of Ggantija, were the work of giants. This particular temple site in Gozo bears witness to this ancient legend: its name, Gigantija, is Maltese for giant.
The Xagħra Stone Circle. Like the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, the Xagħra Stone Circle, was used for funerary rites. It was also built on a promontory to the West of a major megalithic site, that of Gigantija Evidence suggests that this site was utilized for burial purposes over the period 4000 - 2500 BC. The Neolithic people at the time made use of a number of natural caves. The Xaghra Stone Circle was originally marked by two entrance monoliths which seem to have been 14 -16 feet high. Although the exact position has not been located, they seem to have been aligned with the Gigantija Temple. These monoliths together with several other megaliths formed part of a wall which circled the entire site. This circle was approximately 45 m in diameter.
Xagħra stone Circle
The interior is composed of a central ritual area entered through a huge stone threshold and down steps into the rough caves. The central chamber is subdivided into two distinct sections by a series of elegant megalithic trilithon altars and a massive stone bowl. Burials were concentrated in smaller caverns, surrounded by rough coralline stone walls. The most important discoveries from the Xaghra stone circle may prove to be the rare but remarkably preserved human remains.
Ta' Cenc Tombs. On the northern lip of Ta’ Cenc, looking across towards Xewkija, three tombs assumed to be of the Early Bronze Age Tarxien Cemetery phase can be found, if carefully sought. The first consists of two rows of upright slabs, perhaps once the walls of a gallery grave. Close to them is a more typical dolmen, with a capstone supported on other blocks. The third is similar, built into a more recent field wall 600m to the east. There may once have been a fourth well off to the south east, but this can no longer be found.
Gozo has four good sets of the mysterious cart-ruts, and a few minor ones. At Tan-Nemes, well east of Qala, a pair runs out onto a spur overlooking the Fliegu ta’ Ghawdex. At Ta’ Tingi, several fine pairs can be found in the olive grove west of the pumping station, just south of Xewkija. An extensive system covers the Ta’ Cenc plateau, best seen between the hotel and the cliffs, and running near, but not to, Borg l-Imramma. They continue for nearly a kilometer to the east. An impressive pair zigzags down the slope from the San Lawrenz quarries to end on the cliffs above the Azure Widow at Dwejra.
Marija Bambina Xagħra Church - The feast of the Nativity of Our Lady is celebrated in Xagħra on 8th September of each year. The feast day is also a National Public Holiday otherwise known as Jum il-Vittorja (Victory Day). This is because it recalls the events of the 8th of September 1565, when the Maltese under the Knights of St. John defeated the Ottoman siege of Malta, known as the Great Siege of 1565. This feast is hence locally known also as Il-Madonna tal-Vitorja (Our Lady of Victory).
There are two particular feasts which demonstrate the unique Gozitan angle on life, the Carnival and Victory Day. Carnival is celebrated on the five days preceding Ash Wednesday. It usually falls in February. Initiated during the Aragonese rule (before 1530), the celebration has continued to grow and expand. Colourful artistic floats, grotesque masks and dance companies of all ages and sexes parade the streets of the town and the main villages throughout the five days. A spontaneous carnival is organised after sunset in the villages of Nadur and Xewkija. Hundreds of people walk up and down the main street dressed in comically distorted figures and the most imaginative and creative costumes and masks to conceal their identity. The week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, known in the Christian calendar as Holy Week, is full of religious and folklore displays. The central event is the Good Friday procession during which several life-size statues representing various moments from the passion and death of Christ are paraded through the village streets. Several men make vows to walk in the procession carrying a heavy cross or dragging heavy iron chains tied to their ankles. They wear hoods to conceal their identity. Scores of boys and young men are dressed in period costumes to add to the pageantry. Most impressive is the Roman legion, a gleam of breastplates, spears and shields and who announce themselves with trumpets and drum rolls. The procession is accompanied by the village band. Bakery
Victory day is celebrated on the 8th of September. On this day the Maltese celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary as well as the end of the 1565 Great Siege, when the Knights of St. John aided by the Maltese inflicted on the Turks a great defeat. There is a pontifical mass at the cathedral and a military parade in Pjazza Indipendenza. A scholar delivers a speech to commemorate what is perhaps the greatest victory in Maltese history.
Mgarr Harbour
Gozo’s strong sense of identity is manifested in its unique and complex history, its crafts and music, its many village festa, its strong identification with the catholic religion and its rural traditions. It even has its own ministry in the Maltese government. Its inhabitants strongly resisted the building of a bridge across the Gozo channel to Malta. For all that it is both a proud and welcoming place, proud of its identity and happy to be a place apart. There is no fear in walking about at night. The sense of safety and security is tangible. The people take pride in the absolute absence of muggings and the almost non-existence of theft. Until fairly recently, when they were not at home, the villagers of Gozo left their keys in their front doors, a custom which can occasionally still be seen.
Xagħra Neolothic statuettes
Gozo is tranquil, and treasures its peace. For some, the silence can be overwhelming, but not to those for whom it spells a blessed a blessed respite from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Gozo is not for those who like wild clubbing. Change is slow in Gozo, which adamantly sticks to its tortoise-like pace. Gozo has still succeeded in retaining its qualities of peace and solitude. If Odysseus were to come here today, he would probably find it even harder to leave.
Malta is associated in the public mind with many images, holiday beaches, The Knights of St. John, The Grand Harbour of Valletta, grandiose churches but few are aware that it has some of the earliest and most developed Neolithic sites extant including at Gigantija on the island of Gozo the world’s oldest stone building. The list of Malta’s heritage sites is dominated by the Islands’ prehistoric megalithic temples and underground chambers. This small island of 243 square kilometers has a far greater importance in European prehistory due to this extraordinary collection of megalithic temples.
It is on Malta and Gozo you find the oldest man-made free-standing constructions on Earth. Borg in-Nadur, Xrobb l-Ghagin, Tas-Silg, Tarxien, Kordin, Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum, Hagar Qim, Mnajdra, Ta' Hagrat, Skorba, Tal-Qadi, Bugibba, Ggantija.
Gigantija
Situated 90 kilometers south of Sicily and 370 kilometers east of the Tunisian coast, the island of Malta appears to have been first settled during the early Neolithic period by a wave of immigrants from the island of Sicily. Several thousand years before the arrival of the Phoenicians, the Maltese Islands were the home to a remarkable culture. These people acquired the skills, and had the strength of spiritual devotion, to mobilise men and resources to build megalithic structures and hew out living rock into burial chambers. This culture was to vanish from the Islands whether through famine, fire, natural disaster or routed by invasion no one knows. The remains seen today are both fascinating and perplexing for there are no definite answers to how and why they were built or for what they were used.
Malta’s temples and the Hypogeum are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The ruins which remain are the bare skeletons of once magnificent structures, mostly roofed over, paved, furnished with doors and curtains, and beautifully decorated with sculptures and paintings. Some archaeologists assume that the period in which the early Maltese progressed from their first rock-cut common graves to their last massive temple complexes was between 3800 and 2400 BC. Around 2300 BC this extraordinary megalithic culture went into rapid decline. A major cause seems to have been the extreme deforestation and soil loss that accompanied the increase in population and the attendant clearing of land for agriculture. Other causes may have been famine, social disruption in response to an oppressive priesthood, and the arrival of foreign invaders. Following the decline of the temple culture, Malta may well have been deserted until the arrival of Bronze Age peoples around 2000 BC.
Statues - National Archaeological Museum
Sleeping Lady
On the islands of Malta and nearby Gozo, the remains of 50 temples have been found, with 23 in various states of preservation. Nearly all of the Maltese temples are constructed in the same basic design: a central corridor leading through two or more kidney-shaped (ellipsoidal) chambers to reach a small alter apse at the far end. The earliest interiors were plastered and painted with red ochre. Later interiors were decorated with intricately carved spirals on steps and altars, friezes of farm animals, fish and snakes, and a simple pattern of pitted dots. Still evident are wall sockets for wooden barriers or curtains and niches for ritual activities. Some of the relief decoration is of such delicate work that it is difficult to understand how it could have been carried out using only stone tools. Artifacts and furnishings (now removed from the temples and placed in museums) indicate ancestor worship, oracular and fertility goddess cults. The temples seem to have been used only for ritual activity and not as cemeteries, for no burials have been found. Sacrificial flint knives are among the artifacts discovered in the temples but no human bones, indicating that sacrifices were solely of animals and not humans.
A good place to start the exploration of Neolithic Malta is the National Museum of Archaeology in the Auberge de Provence in Valletta. This is one of the “inns” or Auberge of the eight Langue or tongues of the Knights of St John which are represented on the eight pointed Maltese Cross.
Auberge de Provence, Valletta, now National Museum of Archaeology
Ceiling - National Museum of Archaeology
National Museum of Archaeology. The National Museum of Archaeology displays an exceptional array of artifacts from Malta’s unique prehistoric periods starting with the first arrival of man in the Ghar Dalam phase (5200 BC) and running up to the Tarxien phase (2500 BC). The collection is housed in the Auberge de Provence, one of the first and most important buildings to be erected in Malta’s baroque capital city, Valletta, after the Great Siege in the late 16th century. The main hall is devoted to temple carvings, in particular the giant statue and altar blocks of Tarxien Temples. The collection continues with representations of animals, temple models, and the remarkable human figures. Of particular note are the exquisite figures of the ‘Sleeping Lady’ from the Hypogeum, and the ‘Venus’ of Hagar Qim. ‘Mother Goddess' from Tarxien
Heading from Valletta to the “three cities” on the far side of the Grand Harbour just outside the Cottonera Line, the defensive bastion encircling the cities you come to the suburb of Paola where a short distance apart you find the Tarxien Temples and the Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni. Tarxien.
The Tarxien site (pronounced "tar-sheen"), discovered by a farmer in 1915 comprises three temples, one of which contains a famous statue of the lower body of a standing figure. Sometimes interpreted as a goddess statue by feminist writers (there is really no way of knowing this as the gender is indeterminate), it is one of the world's earliest known and most powerful representations of a deity.
This site, dating from 3600 to 2500 BC, is the most complex of all temple sites in Malta and consists of four megalithic structures. The temples are renowned for the detail of their carvings, which include domestic animals carved in relief, altars, and screens decorated with spiral designs and other patterns. Of particular note is a chamber set into the thickness of the wall between the South and Central temples, which is famous for its relief of two bulls and a sow.
The site seems to have been used extensively for rituals, which probably involved animal sacrifice. Tarxien is also of great interest because it offers an insight into how the temples were constructed: stone rollers left outside the south temple were probably used for transporting the megaliths. Remains of cremation have also been found at the centre of the South temple at Tarxien, which indicates that the site was reused as a Bronze Age cremation cemetery.
Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni. Another important temple, the Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni, departs from the norm of Maltese temples. Located close to the Tarxien temple complex in the modern suburb of Paola, it was discovered by chance in 1902 during the digging of a well. The Hypogeum is a multi-storey underground labyrinth (25 x 35 meters) consisting of chambers, halls, corridors and stairs, which over the centuries were extended deeper and deeper in to the soft limestone. Constructed (according to the orthodox chronology) between 4000 and 5000 years ago, the Hypogeum was both a sanctuary and a cemetery, and the bones of some 7000 humans have been found.
Plan of Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni
The most impressive chamber, commonly called "the holy of holies" has pillars and lintels that are architecturally remarkable. With its walls coated in red paint, it has been suggested that the chamber was used for animal sacrifices. Another chamber, the so-called Oracular room, has a square niche cut into the wall that may have been used so that a priest's voice could echo around the temple. A mysterious quality of this particular room is that a man's voice will powerfully reverberate around the chamber while a woman's voice is all but absorbed by the ancient stones.
Heading to the south coast of the island on a cliff top you come to the sites of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra.
Hagar Qim.
The massive ruins of Hagar Qim (pronounced "agar-eem") and Mnajdra (pronounced "eem-na-eed-rah") stand on a rocky plateau on the southwest coast of Malta, overlooking the sea and facing the uninhabited islet of Filfla, 4.8 kilometers away. This plateau is composed of two types of limestone; the lower, harder stone (gray coralline limestone) out of which Mnajdra is constructed, and the upper, softer stone (pale globigerina limestone) from which Hagar Qim is built.
Shrine altar - Hagar Qim
Hagar Qim
Model of Hagar Qim
The name Hagar Qim means 'standing stones' and previous to the excavations of these ruins all that could be seen was a mound of earth from which only the tops of the tallest stones protruded. Hagar Qim, possibly constructed in several phases between 3500 BC and 2900 BC, is built with some of the largest stones of any temple on Malta; one massive stone is 7 meters by 3 meters (22 ft by 10 ft) and weighs approximately 20 tons. The temple's soft globigerina limestone walls have weathered badly over the millennia and later temple builders used the harder coralline limestone such as is found at Mnajdra complex just down the hill.
Mnajdra Temple.
The Mnajdra temple complex is located about 500 meters to the west of Hagar Qim, closer to the edge of the promontory facing the sea. Mnajdra consists of two buildings, a main temple with two ellipsoidal chambers and a smaller temple with one chamber. Among their other possible uses, the temples of Mnajdra fulfilled astronomical observation and calendrical functions. The main entrance faces east, and during the spring and autumn equinoxes the first rays of light fall on a stone slab on the rear wall of the second chamber. During the winter and summer solstices, the first rays of the sun illuminate the corners of two stone pillars in the passageway connecting the main chambers. In the case of Mnajdra, the alignment today is good, but not quite perfect
Heading now across to the neighbouring island of Gozo we find many other Neolithic remains including the remarkable temple which is the oldest standing stone monument in the world named after the Maltese word for “gigantic”.
Gigantija.
The largest and best preserved of all the Maltese temples is on Gozo (a 20-minute ferry ride from Malta). Constructed (according to the assumptions of conventional archaeology) between 3600 and 3000 BC, the temple of Gigantija covers 1000 square meters and its astonishing rear wall still rises 6 meters and contains megaliths weighing in at 40-50 tons. According to local legends, the massive blocks of Gigantija (the word means gigantic) were carved in the south of Gozo by a female giant. Gigantija
How do we explain the fact that the oldest free-standing stone monuments in the world, which by virtue of there size and sophistication declare themselves to have been built by a people who had already accumulated long experience in the science of megalithic construction, appear on the archaeological scene on a group of very small islands - the Maltese archipelago - that had not even been inhabited by human beings until 1600 years ago? Wouldn't you expect a “civilization history” to show up in the Maltese archaeological record documenting ever-more sophisticated construction techniques - and indeed wouldn't you also expect an extensive territory capable of supporting a reasonably sized population (rather than tiny barren islands) to surround and nourish the greatest architectural leap forward of antiquity?
Neolithic carvings
Paleoanthropologists excavating in the caves of Ghar Hasan and Ghar Dalam on Malta found evidence of Neanderthal humans along with the skeletal remains of animals (European deer, bear, wolf and fox) known to be extinct long before the end of the Paleolithic era. While the Neanderthal could conceivably have made the sea voyage from mainland Europe to Malta during early Paleolithic times (though there is absolutely no evidence of such sea migrations anywhere in the Neanderthal record), the animals could not have made such a sea journey and would therefore had to have somehow walked to the region of Malta. But isn't Malta an island remotely located in the midst of a vast sea?
Malta has not always been an island and this fact we learn from oceanographers and the new science of inundation mapping. Around 17,000 years ago, at the time of the Last Ice Age, when the level of the world's oceans was more than 120 meters lower than it is today, the islands of the Maltese archipelago were the mountain tops of one landmass joined by land-bridge to Sicily (90 kilometers to the north), which itself was joined to the southern end of what is today the Italian mainland. Therefore, until 16,400 years ago, Paleolithic humans and the animals they hunted could simply have walked from Europe all the way to Malta. These people would have lived, hunted (and perhaps farmed) mostly in the lowland areas and (like so many other cultures of antiquity) might have constructed some of their temples upon the peaks of sacred mountains. Given the many thousands of years of time during which Malta was connected by land to mainland Europe and the likelihood of information exchange from other cultural regions of prehistoric Europe, it is eminently possible that the extraordinary architectural style of the Maltese temples could have been developed.
Then the ice caps began to melt and the level of the oceans slowly rose, relentlessly inundating coastal areas and the land-bridges between higher altitude regions. By 14,600 years ago, the land-bridge to Sicily had disappeared beneath the sea and by 10,600 years ago the waters had risen so high that only the peaks of Malta were above the seas, forming the islands we have today of Malta, Gozo and Comino. In the process of this inundation the social centers in the lowland regions would have been lost beneath the waters and the people would have retreated to the higher altitudes of the Maltese peaks or would have migrated northward to Italy and the mainland of the European landmass. The Maltese archipelago would henceforth be completely isolated from European cultural influences and would therefore display unique developmental characteristics, which is exactly the case found in the archaeological record.
Perhaps the great temples of Malta were not actually constructed during Neolithic times but are in fact artifacts of a much older Paleolithic civilization (remember, there is no radio-carbon or other archaeological dating to substantiate the current assumption of a Neolithic origin of the Maltese temples). Perhaps the elegant astronomical alignments of the temples and the presence of advanced mathematics in their construction indicate that the island of Malta was once part of a pan-regional (or global) sacred geography, itself formulated by a long lost civilization of high scientific and spiritual achievement. To determine the answers to these questions it will be necessary to conduct much more extensive archaeological excavations on Malta and, equally important, at the many underwater archaeological sites known to exist in the waters surrounding the islands. Whatever their ultimate origin however, the Maltese temples are places of power not to be missed by any serious pilgrim and earth mysteries aficionado and a source of curious fascination to visitors.
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