Thanks to a group of prehistoric religious buildings, with ceramics and other artifacts found in them, there was a basis for the periodization of the history of Ancient Malta. There are more than 20 temple complexes in total, and one of them is Ggantija, built in 3600 BC. e., on the island of Gozo. It is considered the oldest man-made structure on Earth and is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Megalithic Temples of Malta

Ancient buildings of Malta

Temples, observatories and catacombs located in the Maltese archipelago are among the most mysterious places on our planet. But who built them and for what purpose is unknown. Even the Egyptian pyramids were built 1,000 years later. Archaeologists, during excavations, found that the age of this mysterious civilization in Malta is about 8 thousand years.

Note! Some megalithic temples were created in the "epoch of temple builders", between the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. and the end of the III millennium BC. e.

Limestone was used to build megaliths. At a later time, local peasants dismantled the walls of temples for their own needs. Therefore, only ruins remained of many of them.

Ancient megaliths of Malta

Megalithic temples of Malta, features of buildings and mysteries

The entire island is crossed by large and sometimes quite deep ruts, resembling tracks from cart wheels. The distance between them, on average, is 1.4 m. The carts that were used on the island until the 20th century had the same width. But nowhere have even small parts or details of ancient wheels, either metal or wooden, been found.

A version has been put forward that since the tracks are stretched to the temples, therefore, all these blocks of limestone were delivered along them. And for sure, balls from the same stone, 60-70 cm in diameter, served as a kind of bearings when moving the plates. However, many researchers do not agree with this statement, since the cross-sectional view of most furrows, even at the present time, looks more like a trough than a semicircle, which is characteristic of the remaining trace from the movement of the ball.

All the megalithic temples of Malta have been studied for a long time, but scientists still cannot accurately determine the origin of the temples built in the Bronze Age. Their construction did not require iron tools and all complexes were built separately. In the construction of megaliths, one principle was used - there was a burial in the middle and all buildings were built in a circle.

The weight of most stone blocks reached several tons. How they were moved in antiquity remains a mystery, since even today it is considered a difficult technical task. Due to the huge size of the religious buildings, the locals believed that they were created by the ancient giants.

Important! Around 2000 BC. e. traces of a civilization that left behind huge megaliths disappear.

How many megaliths are in Malta

There are 23 ancient megalithic structures in the Maltese archipelago. The design of each of them is unique and they are all just gigantic. There are a lot of rocks on the coast, different in size and shape. Some of them have grottoes and caves that go deep underground. There are even several underground temples.

Half-Saflieni - underground temple

Famous megaliths include:

• Khal-Saflieni, the Hekatei (Hypogeum) Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the ceramics of the Ghar-Dalam period, discovered in it, it was possible to determine the estimated age - 4,000 BC. e. Presumably, the temple is dedicated to the cult of Birth and Death. There are 34 rooms on three levels, connected by small tunnels. The total area is 500 m². On the second level is the Oracle Chamber. There is a small niche in it at the level of a person’s face, if you say something in a low voice into it, it will spread throughout the dungeon. The intelligible "echo" does not respond to a female or child's voice. In 1940, a group of schoolchildren with a teacher disappeared in the hypogea. Almost immediately, a collapse occurred in that tunnel. Rescuers who arrived at the crash site managed to find only a piece of a safety rope.
• Ggantija or "Tower of the Giants". In fact, these are two temples, the ruined facade of the larger one is about 6 m high. In its construction, “cyclopean masonry” was used, the stones are firmly held in the walls due to their impressive weight. Next to it, you can easily find a place where sacrificed animals were hung up and a special recess for washing the feet. Inside one of the sanctuaries is an ancient altar, with a niche in which the deities once stood and a hole into which the blood of the victim flowed. The fence surrounding the temples consists of huge stones weighing up to 50 tons, which causes ongoing debate among scientists about the origin of the megalith.

"Tower of the Giants"

• Temples of Mnajdra. There are three in total. Images of temples are placed on coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5 euro cents. These religious buildings, adjacent to each other, are surrounded by a beautiful natural landscape. Each of them has its own entrance. The southern building has survived the most, its façade is less damaged and there is even a bench. On the walls there are decorations in the form of carved spiral figures and special dotted lines. There is a special opening for the oracle and an altar with an hourglass-shaped pedestal.

Temples of Mnajdra

Newer temples are templar structures

At a later time, several dozen more temples were built, which are also classified as megalithic structures. The mysterious ancient people who built them were called templars.

Most famous structures Templars in Malta:

• Tarxien. The most complex religious building, consists of four ancient buildings. It is attributed to 3600-2500 years. BC e. In ancient times, a three-meter statue of the goddess stood at its entrance, but only the lower part of the sculpture has survived to this day - the legs and part of the skirt. The original is stored in the Valletta Museum, a copy is installed near the temple. There is a recess in the altar, in which scientists found a ritual knife and bones of sacrificial animals. The building, built by ancient architects, invariably delights tourists and researchers. They also look with interest at a huge bowl carved from a stone slab, the purpose of which has remained unknown.

Megalith Tarxien reconstructed in 1956

• Hagar Quim. (3300 BC) The temple is also called "Standing Stones". This is due to the fact that before the start of the excavations, only the tops of the rocks were visible from the ground, the height of which, as it turned out in the course of archaeological work, reached 5 m. All the buildings of the complex are oriented to the sun in such a way that during the equinox the light falls on the altar.
• Temples of Sorrow and Ta'Hajrat. They were discovered by the standards of history quite recently, in the early sixties of the last century. Despite the fact that these relatively small structures with a non-standard layout have come down to us in a badly damaged form, a number of valuable early Neolithic artifacts have been found near them. Megalith Skorba is dated 4400 BC. e., the temple of Ta'Hajrat - 3600-3000 years. BC e.

Hagar Kwim opened in 1839

History of the Templars

The Templar civilization existed on the islands of Malta and Gozo between 4000 and 2400 BC. BC e. Over the entire period, they built more than 30 places of worship. The development of society took place in complete isolation, therefore, there were more and more differences in religious beliefs, traditions and customs. In the megalithic temples of Malta, they carried out ritual burials, decorated them with a large number of statues. As a result of the isotopic study of the remains, it was found that people ate meat and vegetables. There was almost no seafood in their diet.

What happened to these people next - whether people became victims of the conquerors or, perhaps, moved to more fertile regions of the planet, is unknown. The message about the cataclysm that happened did not reach our contemporaries. It has been established that the builders of megalithic structures did not become victims of terrible diseases, there were no epidemics at that time, but they completely disappeared in a period close to 2900 BC. e. and did not leave any documents or other sources with the help of which one could find out their secret.

Note!"Maltese Templar" is not a Templar at all . These religious figures will arrive on the islands much later. And they will also build churches, but only with more modern technologies and profess the Christian religion.

Excursions to the megaliths and to the buildings of the templars

Malta can certainly be called a small state. Therefore, it does not take much time to get to the right place. Although tourists planning to explore any local attraction , tour must be booked in advance. Megalithic temples Malta made the island of Malta very significant in the history of the whole world. Not far from the ancient structures there are museums, interactive screens, a map that show valuable finds and relics. Professional guides tell visitors about recent scientific discoveries related to the history of the island.

A huge number of megaliths suggests that in ancient times Malta was the largest religious center of the entire Mediterranean. Temples performed not only religious tasks, but also administrative ones. They treated the sick and buried the dead. These are monuments of great importance for our entire civilization. Megalithic sanctuaries are under protection, since in 1980 they were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Some of the most mysterious places on Earth are ancient structures Malta. These are temples, catacombs, observatories. They are even older Egyptian pyramids. But by whom they were built and for what - a mystery to us. Excavations have shown that civilization existed eight thousand years ago. Perhaps it was from the Maltese that the Sumerians got their knowledge. It is assumed that the Maltese, with high technology, took part in the construction of Stonehenge.

The island itself is streaked along and across with large ruts, similar to a messy network of rails or cart ruts. Some of them are very deep. Some believe that such ruts could be formed from constant riding on chariots, the wheels of which would be two meters in diameter and made of metal or other durable material. But not a single wheel has been found in Malta, not even a wooden one, let alone a metal one. Ufology ascribes extraterrestrial origin to the ruts. Other enthusiasts admit that Malta is part of the sunken Atlantis and mighty Atlanteans left traces.

Let's find out more about this place...

The mysterious megalithic sanctuaries of Malta are 1000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids. The mysterious structures, most likely having a cult purpose, are built from huge stone blocks weighing several tons. Moving such weights is a difficult task even with the current state of the art. How they were moved 6-7 thousand years ago is a complete mystery. No less striking is the so-called hypogeum - carved into the rocks and served for several centuries as a temple-tomb of an ancient religious cult. Around 2000 B.C. e. trace of the mysterious ancient people, who created unique monuments, suddenly breaks off. What caused the disappearance of civilization - an epidemic, conquerors, or mass migration - will forever remain a mystery to us. Another notable trace of their stay in Malta was left by the knights of the Order of St. John - the Joanites, who appeared on the island around 1500 BC. e. It cannot be said that nothing happened in Malta between the megalithic period and the coming of the knights.

During the 3500 years separating these cultures, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, and the Romans have been here. The Order of the Knights-Joanites appeared at the beginning of the second millennium of a new era in the Holy Land. The initial task of the order is to care for the wounded and sick, care for the poor. Gradually, the knights took over the functions of the ‘soldiers of Christ’ and began to protect the pilgrims and fight the ‘infidels’. However, unable to resist the onslaught of the Muslims, the Johanites first moved to about. Rhodes, and then to Malta, which they received as a fief from Emperor Charles V. The appearance of the knights enlivened the life of Malta. Trade, the construction of hospital and defensive structures began to develop. The inhabitants of the island have a job. Money flowed to the island from donations and income from the holdings of the order. Another source is the robberies of Muslim trade caravans.

In 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent marched against Malta with a large fleet and large army, intending to put an end to the order. The knights, led by Grand Master Jean Parisot Valletta and supported by a reserve army from Sicily, successfully repelled the attack, defending the southern tip of Europe from the Turks. In honor of the Grand Master, the capital of the island was named Valletta. After the victory came the flowering of architecture and culture. But gradually, with the loss of the importance of the knightly movement, the island began to decline. When in 1789

Napoleon wanted to ‘make a halt in Malta’ on the way to Egypt, the knights surrendered without a fight, despite the strong fortifications. French domination lasted two years, after which the Maltese freed themselves from it with the help of the British. For more than 150 years, until the end of World War II, the island was used by the British as a naval base. In 1964 Malta declared its independence and in 1974 became a republic.

Gauge of Malta

The Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo are called the "remnants of Atlantis" and the "European Nazca Desert" because of one feature: where bedrock comes to the surface, parallel furrows or ruts are visible almost everywhere. These ruts sometimes go under water, where they hide under layers of silt and sand. Once there were more of them, but over the past centuries, many tracks have disappeared under houses and roads.

A typical rut damaged by erosion.

The depth of the ruts that cut through the limestone ranges from 2 to 67.5 cm, and in some places the depth can vary by 10-15 cm over 200 meters. The cross section of the ruts varies, but they are usually wider at the top than at the bottom, forming a U- or V-profile. The track width at the surface ranges from 8 to 53 cm, at the bottom from 6 to 14 cm. The average distance between the tracks is 1.4 m. The carts that were used in Malta until the beginning of the 20th century had the same axle width, they could easily roll into the ancient rut. The fact that the ruts are very ancient was immediately clear: some graves of the Phoenicians who owned the islands from 800 BC. e. to 218 BC e., carved into the limestone over the ruts.

The tracks themselves were not cut down: it seems that once there was mud here, on which carts drove, and then it turned into stone. True, there is one “but” here: there are no traces of horses, bulls or people who pulled carts anywhere. On the sides of some ruts there are parallel depressions, possibly trodden by someone, but there are no separate tracks. In 1955, the BBC conducted an experiment by launching a wheeled cart, a sled and a sled into the tracks. Only the drag was able to drive along the ancient track and not get stuck. However, a careful study of the cut of one of the ruts proved that it could only be left by a high wheel.

Track layout.

As long as the ruts were studied by historians, mysteries remained: how could ancient carts cut ruts in solid stone? How many tons had to be loaded or how many times did you have to drive through one place? Why do ruts disappear under water?

These questions were answered in 2008 by geomorphologists Derek Mottershead, Alistair Pearson and Martin Schaefer of the University of Portsmouth. They took samples of the rocks where the ruts are visible and tested them for dry and wet strength. As it turned out, the limestones of Malta are fragile even when dry and lose up to 80% of their strength when wet.

Cross section of the track with a characteristic warp, proving that it was left by the wheel.

Scientists calculated the weight of the cart based on the dimensions of the track and assuming that it had only two wheels, entirely carved from wood and not divided into spokes, rim and hub. It turned out about 250 kg. In most places in Malta, in order to push a track in rocks in a wet state, the weight of the cart itself is sufficient, and in a dry state, carts plus a not very large load (600-900 kg). If we remember that the tracks appeared during the construction of dolmens and Neolithic temples, and many of them begin in quarries, it is clear that the ancient inhabitants of Malta had no problems with heavy loads.

Diagram of the railroad network at Misrah Ghar il'Kbir, nicknamed "Clapham Junction" by the British after London Station.

In Neolithic times, the surface of the islands was smoother, and bare rocks and bumps were covered with a thin layer of soil. Ruts, crashing into the soil, after the first trip reached the limestone and penetrated into it. Then the soil was carried away by erosion, and what was left, the inhabitants were forced to carefully preserve behind protective walls. At a time when the Arabs owned the island, land was even brought there by ship. The construction of temples and dolmens undermined the ecology of the island, which could no longer feed the former population. Those who survived were unable to resist the expansion of the Phoenicians.

But why does part of the ruts go to sea? Karel Hughes, studying the geology of the islands of Malta and Gozo, found traces of "relatively recent geological instability": fresh faults, uplifts, shifts that cut through numerous caves on the island, displaced sediments. After such powerful cataclysms that continued in historical times (the earthquake of 1693, accompanied by a tsunami, is still remembered in Malta), part of the coastline, along with the ruts, could go under water. In addition, over the past 3000 years, the level mediterranean sea rose noticeably, which could not but affect the Maltese coast.

The riddle of "roads" gives rise to a lot of assumptions. The Maltese architect George Gronier de Vasse, for example, once argued that Malta is part of the sunken Atlantis. Therefore, the "rails" were left from the Atlanteans, who carried something along them. Maybe even underwater.

Ufologists compare the tracks with drawings on the Nazca plateau. And they attribute to them an alien origin: they say, the brothers in mind scribbled the island with a laser beam. Local scientists laugh at this. But they themselves did not come up with anything worthwhile.

- "Rails" pass near ancient temples (at that time there were more than 40, now there are about 20 left. - Ed.), Which means that they delivered multi-ton stone blocks for construction, - believes Katya STRAUD, curator of archaeological research at the Department of Heritage of Malta . - Near some temples, many limestone balls with a diameter of 40 - 60 cm were found. They could be used as bearings. They cut ruts with stone tools, laid out balls in them, put a slab on top, and a load on it. So they rolled. Moreover, having rolled the plate forward, they could take the rear balls, transfer them forward and roll further.

But here's the problem: most of the furrows, firstly, were laid in desert places, far from not only temples, but even settlements, and secondly, the section of the furrows is basically a “trough”, and not a semicircle that would have remained from the balls. And will limestone balls withstand the pressure of blocks weighing several tons? And who was pushing or pulling this vehicle?

It is possible that these tracks could be artificial channels for collecting rainwater, says historian Stefan Florian. - They blocked the furrow on both sides and scooped it out.

But why did they have to be done in pairs? With the same success, it can be assumed that water was supplied to the inhabitants through the furrows: one cold, the other hot.

An interesting explanation for the Maltese artifact was given by a Russian geologist, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, who worked for 15 years in the Far North of Russia, and now businessman Dmitry BEH-IVANOV.

It's simple: no one chiselled limestone, no one rubbed it into dust with wheels, - Dmitry Evaldovich explained. - We drove through the mud - and the track is ready. Hence the imperfection of the geometry of the prints - no one made them on purpose.

Dirt? I was genuinely surprised. - Malta is a stone, solid limestone!

It has become solid now,” the geologist said. - And once Malta and Gozo were covered with soft, like clay, carbonate silts, which later, drying up, formed limestone stone. The ruts were left by wooden sledges, to which the inhabitants were harnessed and thus transported goods. Sledges are the best means of transport for getting around in the mud.

And what did the Maltese carry so far across the island?

They evacuated on sledges to save themselves. There was some kind of catastrophe in Malta, the earth was heaving in many places. And the surviving people who inhabited the shores of the reservoirs found themselves overnight away from the water, surrounded by swamp slurry. Having collected all their belongings, they began to leave for a new place of residence, to the water. Therefore, the "rails" go from the mountains to the lowlands. And not to the bottom of the sea, but to the water. And I found footprints of people.

Bekh-Ivanov's hypothesis is also not without a hitch. Ruts are found in two layers of so-called "coral limestones": upper and lower. Geologists estimate the age of the first one at 5 - 7 million years. And the second - in 25 - 35 million years. It turns out that people lived in Malta at that distant time?

May be so. Although the scientist himself does not exclude that 6 - 7 thousand years ago a catastrophe could occur in Malta, which shifted and mixed the limestones.

Many hypotheses have been put forward about how and for what outlandish furrows were created. According to one of them, these are traces of carts to which draft animals were harnessed. However, experience has shown that carts would not be able to maneuver in ruts, since their turning radius is very small. There are assumptions that are even embarrassing to analyze. for example, that furrows are letters that are visible only from the air. Or is it leftovers transport system connecting Europe with Africa.

The most successful, at first glance, seems to be the hypothesis associated with hundreds of soft limestone balls found on the island. Its authors suggested that these balls served as supports for platforms on which multi-ton stone blocks were transported for the construction of temples, of which 23 pieces survived in Malta. But the traces from the balls would have a rounded shape, but in fact they are trough-shaped. Limestone balls will not withstand the weight of large blocks, but for the sake of small ones, was it worth fencing a garden? Yes, and it is impossible to deliver goods on such confusing tracks ...

Megaliths of Malta

Almost the entire coast of Malta is a picturesque cliff, riddled with numerous caves and grottoes. There are so many of them that it seems that in the thickness of the rocks there is another city - an underground one. And there is some truth in this, because there are several large underground temples in Malta.

One of them - the Hypogeum Temple - is located in the town of Paola. It is carved into a solid rock at a depth of 11 meters, located on three levels, has 33 rooms with a total area of ​​500 square meters. The mystery of the temple lies in the fact that in the so-called Oracle Chamber, the echo responds only to a male voice and from all sides at once! Unfortunately, photography is prohibited in the temple, cameras are deposited at the entrance, so there is nothing to illustrate what has been said.

No less impressive are the ground megalithic structures of the island. Everyone has heard about the legendary Stonehenge in the UK, but not everyone knows that in Malta there are several similar buildings made of huge boulders. The largest of the temple complexes is called Hajar-Im. Unnamed builders erected it in 3600-3200 BC. e. Local limestone was used as building material. The layout of the temple is quite typical for other similar structures in Malta - it consists of several rounded rooms connected by passages. The main entrance is made up of massive stone slabs- two vertical and two horizontal.

Oval openings, cut right into the slabs, lead to some rooms, which is why the interior of the building remotely resembles a submarine. The huge size of the blocks of which the walls are made up will certainly make you ask yourself the question: “How could one build something like this with bare hands, without construction equipment?! Who and how carried these gigantic blocks? The imagination draws a Cyclops, for whom such an activity was something like playing with the Lego constructor.

The walls of the temple are made of huge boulders.

Half a kilometer from Hajar-Im, closer to the sea, there is another megalithic temple, which bears the name of Mnajdra. It was erected in the 4th millennium BC, and was discovered during excavations carried out by archaeologist J. Vance in 1840. The first plan of the temple was made in 1871 by explorer James Fergusson. In 1901, it was significantly refined by Dr. Albert Mayr. During excavations in 1949, valuable artifacts were found - two statues, two large bowls and tools used in construction. In 1992, the megalithic temples of Malta were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Support pillars are decorated with a large number of drilled holes

In terms of temple complex Mnajdra resembles a maple leaf made of large limestone slabs. The complex consists of three temples - Upper, Middle and Lower, not connected by passages. A doorway in the form of a hole cut in a limestone slab, set vertically, leads to the Upper Temple. It is possible that the original room had a vaulted ceiling, although it is hard to imagine how such a structure could hold up. The stones that serve as supports are decorated with holes drilled in the form of horizontal rows.

The middle temple is the youngest of the buildings in the Mnajdra complex. The most impressive is the Lower Temple, the inner surfaces of the walls of which are decorated with spiral patterns and battlements, and oval passages or windows are carved into the slabs. Researchers believe it was used for astronomical or calendrical purposes, as during the spring and autumn equinoxes, sunlight passes through the main portal and illuminates the main axis of the building. The remaining temples appear to have been used for sacrifices, as flint knives and animal bones were found near the altars. The rooms were even furnished with stone benches and tables.

Doorways are carved very carefully

Currently, there is a museum near the temple complexes, where the finds made by archaeologists during excavations are stored. There are models of megalithic temples, where you can, by changing the light source, see how the megaliths look at different times of the year and day. A special constructor is intended for children, where it is possible to assemble their own megalithic temple from wooden "blocks". Elements of interactivity are not forgotten either - visitors can try to process a block of limestone or try to transport finished slabs on a model. The museum is open daily from 9 to 19. The cost of an adult ticket is 9 euros, for children from 12 to 17 years old - 6.50 euros, for children from 6 to 11 years old - 4.50 euros.

Another mysterious object on the territory of Malta is the Gjar Dalam Cave, located on the outskirts of the village of Bizerbbuja. She is not man-made, but natural object, and yet is a great mystery. It contains traces of the earliest human presence in Malta, about 7400 years ago. But that's not the point. The cave is a real prehistoric cemetery of extinct animals. Several layers of bones of hippos and pygmy elephants, turtles, birds and other representatives of the ancient fauna were found here.

The question naturally arises - how did such a concentration of bones in a local place arise? Who and why collected this exotic collection? Oils are added to the fire by mysterious ruts, which are literally squeezed out in a stone plateau and lead from the cave to the seashore, going under water. Involuntarily, the assumption creeps in that someone brought the remains of animals to the vault. Moreover, this continued for a long period of time, otherwise how to explain the appearance of a rut in the stone.

By the way, at present only rodents are found in Malta from wild animals, and here we are talking about a large number of large animals. True, geologists believe that approximately 5 thousand years BC. Malta was connected to Sicily by an isthmus, thanks to which elephants and other large animals, as well as humans, could be here. Later, Malta separated from the mainland, which changed the quality of the fauna - pygmy elephants and huge turtles appeared here. Then they disappeared altogether. However, this does not explain the appearance of a large "deposit" of their remains, concentrated in one place.

Gjar Dalam was first discovered back in 1647, but it was scientifically examined only in 1885, and opened for free visiting in 1933. True, out of 144 meters, only the first 50 meters are accessible to visitors, but this is enough to get an idea of ​​its scale. During World War II, it was used as a bomb shelter. After the war, the Museum of Natural History was organized at its base. In 1987, Italian archaeologists, while continuing their excavations, discovered images of human hands, animal figures, including elephants. Now numerous finds can be seen in the museum. There are also expositions dedicated to the history of the formation of the cave itself, scientific research and mysterious finds, the explanation of which has not yet been found.

The museum is open daily from 9 to 17. The cost of an adult ticket is 5 euros, for children from 12 to 17 years old - 3.50 euros, for children from 6 to 11 years old - 2.50 euros.

sources
http://www.kosmopoisk.ru/artefacts/265/
http://unewworld.com/nepoznannoe/misticheskie-tajny-malty.html
http://foto-travel.net/2013/06/malta-sledyi-drevnih-tsivilizatsiy
http://othereal.ru/malta-sledy-drevnix-civilizacij/
http://www.kalipso-travel.ru/malta.html
http://planete-zemlya.ru/zagadochnye-kolei-malty/

Let me remind you some of the mysteries of the ancients: for example, . But who does not know how they built The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

Although many rightly associate Malta with the knightly order of the Hospitallers, I personally believe that they are not only the historical calling card of the archipelago. The phrase “ancient culture” causes the majority of associations with the Egyptian pyramids and the ruins of Greek temples, but in Malta there is an opportunity to get to know the monuments, which, although they look more rude, are fundamentally different from the heritage of Egypt or ancient Hellas. In addition, these buildings are an order of magnitude older.

Although formally, the word "temple" may well be understood as any church - including the Catholic Cathedral, of which there are a lot in Malta, but they do not determine the cultural identity of this dwarf state.

The structures that will be discussed today belong to the Neolithic period, or, more simply, the Late Stone Age. There has always been enough stone in Malta due to its origin: the fact is that the archipelago actually consists entirely of limestone, since it was once part of the seabed, on which the chitinous shells of dead mollusks settled, forming a rock. In light of this, there is nothing surprising that the Neolithic on the islands continued into the 2nd millennium BC.

Temples of Malta

The island of Malta is the largest in the Maltese archipelago, and it is there that most of the attractions are concentrated. Neolithic temples are no exception.

Temple of Hal Saflieni

This building stands apart from all the Neolithic monuments in Malta. The fact is that this sanctuary was not built of stone, but was cut entirely in limestone. At the same time, it was created in the period from the 5th to the 3rd millennium AD, so, perhaps, it is the most important long-term construction on the planet - where are the Czech Gothic cathedrals with their 600 years.

The sanctuary was opened quite by accident at the beginning of the 20th century, when a sewer was being built. It is a system of more than 30 mostly round and oval rooms located at three levels of depth and interconnected. It was not possible to find out for certain the purpose of Khal-Saflieni: there are versions about its cult affiliation, but there is an opinion that this is an ancient burial ground, which expanded as it was filled.

The scale of the building, of course, is impressive, especially in combination with its antiquity. Personally, I don't remember anything like that anywhere. By the way, in addition to size, it is worth noting the elegance of execution, and many portals are decorated with albeit primitive, but still decors.

Today, access for tourists is open only to the upper levels, and the entrance inside is through the building under which Khal-Saflieni was discovered more than 100 years ago. There was no information in Russian, at least at the time of my visit (summer 2015), but if you wish, you can find it after a visit to the temple.

How to get to Hal Saflieni

How to get to the sanctuary from the bus stop is shown in the diagram below.

Hal-Saflieni opening hours

And this is really important information. To get inside, it is not enough just to come to Paola and buy a ticket at the entrance. The visit is booked for a specific time in advance, and it is best to do so. If you do not take care of the ticket in advance, you will have to go early in the morning to the Museum Fine Arts in Valletta, where a certain number of tickets are sold on certain days.

At the same time, the queue should be taken at least an hour before the opening, since there may well not be enough tickets for everyone, and I personally saw how people, having stood for a long time, were forced to leave with nothing. If you go this route, you will most likely have to skip breakfast at the hotel, and as a consolation, you can buy a ticket to the Museum of Fine Arts at a discounted price of 2 EUR.

How to get to the Museum of Fine Arts is written.

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 35 EUR
• For children 12-17 years old and persons over 60 years old - 20 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 15 EUR

At the same time, at the entrance you will be asked to hand over your cameras and mobile phones. Taking pictures inside is strictly prohibited.

Temple of Hajar-Im (Hagar Qim)

This temple is the largest in area. It is made of limestone slabs. Although processing technologies in the IV-III millennia BC. significantly inferior to the current ones, the details of the facade seem surprisingly geometrically correct. Of course, no mortar was known at that time, so the structure is supported by gravity alone.

How to get to the Hajar Im Temple

The temple is located very close to the Hagar stop of buses No. 74 and 201.

Opening hours of the Hajar-Im Temple

The temple is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. From October 1 to March 31 - from 10:00 to 17:00. On December 24, 25 and 31, January 1 and Good Friday, the temple is closed for visiting.

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 10 EUR
• For children aged 12-17 and persons over 60 years old - 7.5 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 5.5 EUR
• Children under 6 years old - admission is free

The ticket price also includes a visit to the Mnajdra temple, which will be discussed below.

Temple of Mnajdra

This object is located just 0.5 km from Hajar-Im, but is already made of harder, coral limestone. Although it is inferior in area to its neighbor, its layout is more correct. In fact, the Mnajdra sanctuary consists of three temples standing close to each other - the upper, middle and lower. They are not connected by transitions.

How to get to Mnajdra temple

The temple is very close to the sanctuary of Hajar-Im, and most often they are visited together.

Mnajdra temple opening hours

The temple is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. From October 1 to March 31 - from 10:00 to 17:00. On December 24, 25 and 31, January 1 and Good Friday, the temple is closed for visiting.

To visit the temple, a single ticket is purchased, which also gives the right to visit the Hajar-Im temple. Rates are listed above.

Temple of Tarxien

The temple acquired its name, since it was discovered in 1914 in the city of Tarshien (Tarshin). Like Mnajdra, it consists of three rooms, but already connected by passages. The highlight of the Tarxien Temple are the numerous reliefs depicting animals, as well as spiral patterns. As archaeological excavations have shown, in ancient times, cattle sacrifices were most likely made in the temple.

How to get to Tarxien Temple

The temple is located near the Neolitici stop of buses No. 81, 82, 84, 85, 88, 206.

Tarxien Temple Opening Hours

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 6 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 3 EUR
• Children under 6 years old - admission is free

Ta-Hajrat Temple (Ta’ Ħaġrat)

This temple, located on the territory of the Mjarr settlement, belongs entirely to the 4th millennium BC, that is, in fact, it is older than all those described above. True, it is inferior to them both in size and in the degree of preservation: when I saw it for the first time, it seemed to me to be a pile of limestone slabs. On closer examination, however, everything turned out to be not so sad.

How to get to Ta-Hajrat Temple

The temple is located within walking distance from the Mgarr and Teatrali stops of buses No. 44, 101 and 238.

Opening hours of the Ta-Hajrat temple

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 3.5 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 2.5 EUR
• Children under 6 years old - admission is free

Temple of Sorrow (Skorba)

It has survived, perhaps, worse than other megalithic sanctuaries popular with tourists on the island of Malta. Since I am not a professional historian or archaeologist, I do not think that it is of any value. On the other hand, if you have already arrived in Mgarr, you can visit both temples.

How to get to the Temple of Sorrow

The temple is 450 meters from Ghajn Bus No. 44 and 101 stop.

Temple of Sorrow opening hours

The temple is open to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9:00 to 16:30. On December 24, 25 and 31, January 1 and Good Friday, the temple is closed for visiting. At the same time, since the territory of the complex is limited, no more than 15 visitors can be there at the same time.

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 3.5 EUR
• For children 12-17 years old and persons over 60 years old - 3 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 2.5 EUR
• Children under 6 years old - admission is free

Other temples of the island of Malta

The megalithic sanctuaries listed above are the best preserved and, in many respects for this reason, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In addition to them, there are other monuments of Neolithic culture on the island. Most of them do not have any infrastructure and are unlikely to be of interest to anyone other than professional archaeologists, but I will still single out one.

Temple of Borj in-Nadur (Borġ in-Nadur)

It is located near the city of Birzebbuja, very close to the Nadur stop of buses No. 80, 82, 119 and 210, as shown in the diagram below.

From the temple itself, only the foundation in the form of a trefoil has survived to date, but nearby are the remains of stone fortifications from the Bronze Age.

Access to the territory is possible only by prior arrangement. It can be done

Temples of Gozo

Not only Malta can boast of Neolithic monuments. There are temples of the late Stone Age on the second most important island of the archipelago. And if the temple of Santa Verna is just free-standing stones, then the other two objects are of much greater interest.

Ġgantija Temple

This is the most famous megalithic monument on the island, which is also the oldest in the entire archipelago. It consists of two clover-planned temples standing side by side, surrounded by an impressive wall of limestone monoliths.

How to get to Ggantija Temple

The temple is 210 meters from the Dahla stop of bus number 307.

Ggantija temple opening hours

The temple is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. From October 1 to March 31 - from 9:00 to 17:00. On December 24, 25 and 31, January 1 and Good Friday, the temple is closed for visiting.

The ticket price is:

• For adults - 9 EUR
• For children 12-17 years old and persons over 60 years old - 7 EUR
• For children 6-11 years old - 5 EUR
• Children under 6 years old - admission is free

The ticket price also includes a visit to the Ta Cola mill, which is written about.

In addition, during the summer period from 16.30 to 17.30 there is an opportunity to visit only Ggantija. In this case, the ticket price will be:

For adults - 6 EUR

For children 12-17 years old and persons over 60 years old - 4.5 EUR

For children 6-11 years old - 3 EUR

Children under 6 years old - admission is free

Stone Circle in the Shaar (Xagħra Stone Circle, Broshtorff Circle)

This underground temple is located in the village of Shaara and, judging by the large number of bones found, served as a burial place. This makes it related to the sanctuary of Hal-Saflieni, although the temple in Shaar is inferior both in size and in the degree of preservation.

How to get to the stone circle

The circle is located next to the Tafla stop of bus number 307.

Object operation mode

At the moment, visits are only possible by prior arrangement. It can be done.

Ruts of Malta and Gozo (Cart ruts)

Since we are talking about Neolithic monuments, it is appropriate to mention one more business card Maltese archipelago, belonging to the period of the late Stone Age - rut. The long furrows in the limestone rock, which is the basis of the archipelago, are indeed very reminiscent of wheel dents. Until now, their origin and purpose is a mystery. Someone claims that they were used to transport blocks from which temples were built, someone argues that this is part of the ancient Maltese water supply system, and some even attribute extraterrestrial origin to the ruts, stating in all seriousness that extraterrestrial civilization through that bizarre pattern that they form, if removed from the air, she sent an encrypted message to her brothers in mind.

Conclusion

A trip to the islands of the Maltese archipelago became for me not only an immersion in the era of the heyday of chivalry, but also real tour in the stone age. There is probably no such concentration of Neolithic monuments anywhere, and these are truly unique objects and the main mysteries of Malta. Ruts and temples of the archipelago will surely seem monotonous to someone - I fully admit it, but even in this case I recommend visiting at least a couple of such objects, since there are few places in Europe where you can see something like this.

Maltese megaliths

Local geographers say that prehistoric times the place of tiny Malta was occupied by a much larger piece of land. This is evidenced by two megalithic temples found on the seabed, near the city of San Julian. The opinion about the relationship of the archipelago to Atlantis is widespread in the scientific world, although it is not supported by any specific data. The oldest history of the country is also vague; only guesses are the assumptions about the existence of a developed civilization here with a cultural, but aggressive society that instilled fear in the Egyptians and Greeks.

According to the most common version, the first inhabitants of Malta were farmers from Sicily. Having successfully overcome 100 km on wooden rafts, they brought food, utensils, and tools with them. Together with people, domestic animals and animals of unknown purpose landed on the islands, for example, pygmy elephants the size of an ordinary dog. This significant event happened about 4 thousand years ago. However, experts attribute the settlement of the Maltese archipelago to earlier times, citing mysterious, albeit quite material things as evidence. So, the local roads arose long before the invention of the wheel, and their abrupt end near the coast suggests earth faults.

Elephant figurine from a megalithic temple

Mysterious ruts with sloping walls are hollowed out in the rocky ground, have a depth of about half a meter and are separated from each other by a distance of 1.4 m. In some places they reach the very edge of the water, maintaining parallelism; in others they converge and intersect like rails. Left by unknown transport, the tracks could have been preserved after the construction of the temple or its transfer to another place due to a change in the relief. Discarding the idea of ​​Atlantis, we can assume that Malta is part of the land absorbed by the sea. In addition to strange roads, the remains of prehistoric lizards found on the islands are proof of this, too large for an island only 27 km long.

Findings in the dungeons of the Hal Saflieni sanctuary near the city of Paola contain another mystery: figurines in the form of obese, headless figures with tiny arms and legs, at the time of discovery, lay next to amphoras and lamps. No less surprising is the origin of local ivory products. As you know, mammoths left the world at the end of the Ice Age, and their alleged descendants - elephants - were found only in Africa. In ancient times, as an ornamental material, ivory was valued on a par with gold. Its transportation until the beginning of our era was too difficult, especially for a people who did not know how to build ships. Nevertheless, in Malta, ivory jewelry was available as early as the 3rd millennium BC. e. Today they are included in the exposition of the National Museum of Archeology along with pottery and stone tools.

As the largest of the museums in Valletta, it is located in a house called "Auberge de Provence", built as a hostel for the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Clay and metal products found in the upper layers of the Khal Saflieni underground date back to the Bronze Age.

Terracotta figurine from Khal Saflieni

Standard plan of a megalithic temple

Later and artistically less valuable, they are marked by the influence of Aegean art.

Judging by their appearance, these products were made not by aliens, but by immigrants from Sicily: ceramics with a scratched pattern of red and white colors are similar to objects of the Neolithic cultures of Western Europe.

Ancient architecture - the most valuable part of the prehistoric heritage - in Malta is presented in museums under open sky, which are all the islands of the archipelago. The megalithic sanctuaries of Malta date back to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. The most interesting of all the monuments found in Europe, they are carved into the rock or erected from local limestone. Separate structures were erected about 6 thousand years ago, that is, they appeared before the Egyptian pyramids, which until recently were considered the first man-made buildings on Earth. Megaliths (from the Greek megas and lithos - “big stone”) are ancient cult buildings built dry from huge, often unprocessed stone blocks. To date, 3 types of megalithic structures are known: dolmens, menhirs and cromlechs. Dolmens, made in the form of large stone boxes covered with a flat slab, were built as burials. The menhir is a long stone dug into the ground strictly vertically.

The prehistoric monuments of Malta are mainly represented by cromlechs, or a group of menhirs, set in the form of a circular fence. Similar to the famous Stonehenge complexes in England and Karnak in France, they appeared a millennium earlier. In addition to age, the Maltese megaliths are distinguished by their purpose and unusual building density: more than 20 temple complexes are located on a site comparable in size to small town. Megalithic structures of the same type, wherever they are, are similar in material, architectural form and construction. Courtyards are often hidden behind high stone fences, similar in plan to a flower with three petals.

In prehistoric times, stone was not just a building material. Belief in its magical properties was reflected in amulets and totems. Filled with deep meaning in antiquity, things made of solid earth rock retained their former significance in the future. Christians erected their first church on a stone; the borders of sacred territories were marked with stone; next to the large stones endowed with a special role, the tribes gathered for advice. In mainland complexes, groups of stone obelisks were used in unknown ceremonies. Even the quantity, not to mention the location, refutes any thoughts about the random nature of such ensembles. If dolmens were undoubtedly tombs, then the role of menhirs is still a matter of dispute. The cromlech device, quite complicated for its time, required knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, which the ancient builders could well have possessed.

Collective burials in caves and the cyclopean masonry of temples do not reveal the mystery of the first millennia of island history. The gods of the ancient Maltese remained unknown, just as the everyday life of the people, undoubtedly developed and, perhaps, coming from the mainland, is covered with a veil of secrecy. Recently, thoughts have been increasingly expressed about the presence of giants in Malta, who arose from nowhere, existed on the islands for 2 millennia and also mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind huge temples.

The Maltese sanctuaries were built from stone monoliths up to 8 m long and weighing several tons each. It is difficult to attribute their creation to the Sicilians, because they were never distinguished by high stature or strong physique.

Gzhantia

The ancient builders of Malta used 2 types of stone: hard tal-kuavvi for masonry walls and soft tal-franca for interior decoration. The method of transportation and processing of blocks is still unknown, but the construction technology was reproduced quite accurately. Work began with the construction of a pit under the foundation. Its walls were sloping on one side and strictly vertical on the opposite side, where the foundation pit was reinforced with logs. Having rolled blocks on rollers, workers moved them to a wooden floor, and then, helping themselves with levers and winches, lowered them down. The laying of the slabs took place slowly, literally by centimeters, although as a result, huge stones lay down exactly.

After the foundation, the construction of the above-ground part of the temple began, which was formed with the help of winches and scaffolding. The ancient builders fitted the blocks very tightly, trying not to leave gaps. The semicircular chambers of the sanctuaries were located around the central aisle. The complex buildings were surrounded by a common wall similar in plan to a horseshoe and also made in the megalithic technique, that is, without mortar and pre-treatment of the stone surface. It is assumed that the fences were originally covered with false vaults.

The largest Maltese sanctuary - Gzhantiya - is located on the island of Gozo and, in addition to the official one, has the name "mother and daughter". The second name was determined by the original form of the structure, erected in the form of two lying women of unequal height. The entrance to each of them is arranged in place of the vagina.

Erotic symbolism occupied a special place in the culture of the Maltese newcomers. In many temples, places of honor were given to phallic signs represented by drawings and unusual sculpture. So, a powerful slab in one of the sanctuaries personified the human reproductive organ. Anyone who managed to touch her could hope for a quick addition to the family. The smooth and rather even surface of an ordinary stone pedestal in some unknown way correlated with male power, which is also believed by the current Maltese. It is no coincidence that this temple is the most visited of the ancient monuments of the island, and it is not difficult to guess that representatives of the stronger sex come here more often.

Dolmen

At one time, Gzhantiya was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest building on the planet. The rest of the temples of Malta were built 2-3 millennia later, but, despite their relative youth, they are of no less historical interest and are excellent from the artistic side. In 1847, notes by the French writer G. Flaubert appeared in the European press. Like many of his colleagues, the famous novelist expressed his interest in ancient monuments, but, unlike many, did not see any mysticism in their origin. Calling dolmens and menhirs magical buildings, he did not deny their cult significance, noting that “they could embody the ideas of the temple characteristic of the ancients.

Some see the huge swaying stones of the dolmens as a symbol of the Earth floating in an endless void. They could be a device for trials: when someone was accused of a crime, he had to walk on a shaky stone. If he remained motionless, the person was justified. It is difficult to say something definite about menhirs. If desired, in each of them one can notice a resemblance to a huge phallus and, on this basis, draw a conclusion about some kind of phallistic cult, like the cult of Isis.

The religious significance of the Maltese megaliths could not be proved, but the piety of the locals forced them to build sanctuaries before houses. Probably, this tradition passed into modern times from the era of mysterious giants who did not hide in fortresses, did not build tombs for themselves, did not have weapons, including primitive knives, did not hunt and did not plow the land. Rejecting metal, by that time already known to people, the probable ancestors of the Maltese turned their talents to construction.

Stone figurine Saracen

The life of the mysterious settlers was subordinated to the service of the gods and the construction of temples. Perhaps they were supplied with food and clothing by pilgrims who came to Malta to worship the goddess Saracen, a fat, prolific giantess, whose image is depicted in temple sculpture. The rocky lands of the archipelago could be sacred place, where her priestesses and secular worshipers lived, who undoubtedly adhered to the laws of matriarchy. The overweight Saracen was more often depicted sitting and lying down. Almost all of her statues have no heads, but in place of the neck there are recesses where nozzles found in the same temples fit. Apparently, each head of the goddess was a certain symbol, therefore, it was replaced before the start of the corresponding ceremony.

The Maltese believed that the beauty of Saracen could drive you crazy, so the priestesses, not wanting that to the faint of heart, hid the face of the goddess, removing her head from the statue. The most spectacular of all the statues found is called the Maltese Venus. The peculiar appearance of the foremother of the islanders brings considerable income, because miniature copies famous sculpture today they are sold in all souvenir shops in Malta. According to legend, it was she who built Gzhantia, dragging huge blocks of stone from the nearest cliffs. Translated from the Maltese language, the name of this sanctuary of the archipelago sounds like “the tower of the giantess”. It is said that in one hand Saracen held a block, and in the other she carried her child, whom the undersized inhabitants of Gozo for some reason consider their ancestor.

Carved ornament on a stele at Khal Tarshin

Interior view of the Shrine of Khal Tarshin

Most of the Maltese temples do not have interior decoration. The impression of completeness is created by the decoration: stone idols, carved altars, niches and hearths, flat sculpture on the walls, where the animal motif is often repeated. In some cases, portal blocks were decorated with primitive carved ornaments. Dots, spirals, realistically interpreted plant and zoomorphic motifs were made in flat relief and then painted. Similar patterns with traces of paint distinguish the walls of the Khal Tarshin temple, discovered about a century ago in the north-east of Malta. Currently, the eponymous museum complex, consisting of 4 temples created in 2100-2800 BC. e.

A true masterpiece of prehistoric architecture is the Hypogeum, a multi-storey cave carved into granite rock with the help of stone tools. The labyrinth of narrow passages, caverns, shallow and deep niches smoothly descends to a depth of 12 m. Translated from Latin, the word “hypogeum” means “underground dwelling”. However, the full name of the monument contains the name of Saflieni Street, where archaeologists dug it up at the beginning of the last century.

Unlike other Maltese temples, the Hypogeum probably had more than just a religious purpose. During excavations in the lowest tier, tens of thousands of human skeletons were found, which indicates that the underground corridors could be used as a cemetery, a prison, or a place where priests were tested. Burials are located in the lower tiers, representing a series of low burial chambers with three blank walls. Each of them was intended for a small body; they all resembled each other, but one was distinguished by its "infinite length", that is, stretched out in the form of a tunnel, it was lost in an unexplored thickness of rocky rock. In the pre-war years, local daredevils tried to explore the mysterious hole; having hardly overcome the narrow entrance, they fell into the tunnel and remained in it forever.

Hypogeum

In the absence of eyewitnesses, rumors arose that some creatures inhabited this place, interested in preserving the secrets of their monastery. One way or another, people really disappeared in the Maltese dungeons, strange sounds were heard and the most attractive caves crumbled by themselves. The system of catacombs was mentioned more than once in ancient books. Some of the authors assured that the network of tunnels branched inland and to the sides, continued under the seabed and stretched to Italy.

To date, all the megaliths found in different parts of the archipelago are open to the public in Malta. Prehistoric buildings, as a rule, are combined into complexes, that is, a single name means several structures.

At the southern tip of Malta, there are 2 temples as part of the Hajar Kim ensemble, built in 2700 BC. e.

Bugibba

Cave Ar Dalam

On the opposite side of the island stands Bugibba - a temple named after the city, not far from which archaeologists discovered it in 1928. Over time, the city border came close to the ancient cromlech and today it is located on the territory of the New Dolmen Hotel. The resort town of Bugibba, located 10 km from Valletta, is far away from the capital, by local standards, because the length of Malta is three times as long. The road from Bugibba to St. Julian runs along the coast, and, despite the loud name of the Regional Highway, is a crooked single-lane road with poor coverage. At night, it turns into a kind of "road of death." The last lanterns stand at the exit from the nearest town of Sliema, and drivers, cursing the darkness, are forced to drive between a rock and an abyss.

The gloomy cave museum Ar Dalam is a real repository of fossils. Walking through its cool halls, you can see pygmy elephants and hippos, giant dormouse and turtles, as well as birds that inhabited the island more than 200 thousand years ago. Thus, in the unique exhibits of Ar Dalam, the moments of the appearance of life are recorded not only in Malta, but also on Earth as a whole. The cult ensemble Mnajdra, discovered in the middle of the 19th century at the southern tip of Malta, consists of three sanctuaries of different sizes. In the spring of 2001, on the night of the fateful Friday the 13th, on the eve of Easter, modern vandals visited the monumental building, moving and breaking 60 stone blocks. The ancient temple, fortunately, was not destroyed, although it suffered the only time in its long existence.

Mnajdra

Having erected unique complexes, the mysterious giants suddenly disappeared in the prime of their culture. The events that led to the departure or mass death of an entire people remained a secret of history: guesses about the epidemic and the war were not confirmed. Also, the idea that they left the world voluntarily, not wanting to see the changes taking place in it, has not been proven.

Megalithic temples are places of worship made of huge blocks of stone, these include, (free-standing stones) and cromlechs (circular fences).

The megalithic temples of Malta belong to the cromlechs. Karnak (France) is also considered the most famous cromlech in the world, but the Maltese buildings are ancient.

Story

Maltese antiquities

Many believe that the oldest man-made structures in the world. But the most ancient temples on the planet were found in Malta: some of the Maltese megaliths are almost a thousand years older than the pyramids. It is there that the traces of one of the most mysterious civilizations in the history of mankind are located.

7 thousand years ago, fearless discoverers who landed on the green islands of the Maltese archipelago brought with them cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, seeds of wheat and barley.

Who were these people? What could make them move to the islands? What did they look like? What language did they speak?

The inhabitants of the islands did not know about metals and lived in the Stone Age, but they were not isolated from the rest of the world. Flint was brought to Malta from Sicily, black volcanic glass (obsidian) from the islands of Lipari and Pantelleria, and strong diorite axes were brought from Italy, hundreds of kilometers to the north.

With these stone tools, the inhabitants of ancient Malta created huge megalithic temples, which surpassed in size everything that had been built before in Europe, and perhaps in the whole world of that time. More than 5,500 years ago, a thousand years before, colossal buildings were erected by the islanders, which amaze with their size to this day, and therefore archaeologists for a long time believed that these Maltese temples appeared relatively late, that their creators borrowed ideas and methods construction among the inhabitants of some centers of the Apennine Peninsula or Greece.

However, when the radiocarbon method showed the true age of the Maltese temples, it became clear that this is the oldest complex of monumental stone architecture in the world and it was created earlier than the pyramids in Ancient Egypt, monuments of Mesopotamia. This fact overturned many earlier ideas about the development of human civilization. And the period in which the megalithic temples of Malta were built (the middle of the 4th - the end of the 3rd millennium BC) received the name "the era of temple builders" in the history of the island.

In total, the remains of 30 temples have been discovered on the island of Malta and Gozo to date. All of them are built from local limestone, or rather, from two of its varieties: relatively hard coral limestone and softer, globigerine. Unfortunately, for several centuries, the Maltese peasants dismantled ancient temples and used their fragments as building material, therefore, in our time, most of the buildings are piles of ruins: randomly scattered blocks of stone, destroyed remains of walls and fences. However, even these ruins make an impression and make one think about the diligence and perseverance of the ancient builders who built these majestic monuments to their unknown gods.

Only 4 temples have come down to us relatively undamaged - Jgantia, Hajar-Kim, Mnajdra and Tarshien. The oldest of them, Jgantija.

Description of the temples of Malta

Here is a description of several megalithic temples in Malta.

The oldest of the Maltese megaliths - Ggantija - is located in the northeast of the island of Gozo. It was built around 3600 BC. e. The existence of the Ggantija megalithic complex was discovered in 1826. Unfortunately, the excavations were resumed much later, in the middle of the 20th century, when the temple had already been badly damaged.

Ggantija (the name translates as "Giant's Tower") - it consists of two separate temples with different entrances, but a common back wall. The temples have a somewhat concave façade, in front of which is a platform of large stone blocks. Most ancient temple The complex consists of three semicircular rooms, which are located in the shape of a shamrock. Scientists believe that such a trinity can symbolize the past, present and future, or birth, life and death.

Ggantija was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest man-made structure in the world.

Hajar Qim is dated to around 3600-3200 B.C. BC e. The name is translated as “standing stones”, because before the excavations, only the tops of huge boulders were visible above the ground. Some of them are over 5 meters high.

This complex is located on the island of Malta, southeast of La Valletta. The craftsmanship of the ancient architects, who ideally fitted horizontal and vertical stones to each other, is striking. The geometric and mathematical calculations used by builders are amazingly accurate. Temples reflect the movement of the Sun from sunrise to sunset, and during the equinox, the sun's rays fall directly on the main altar.

In this temple, a terracotta figurine of a full naked woman was discovered, which was called the Maltese Venus. Now this 13 cm figurine is stored in the National Museum of Archeology of Malta.

The three temples of the Mnajdra religious ensemble are also well preserved. According to scientists, the sanctuary is oriented towards sunrise during the solstice and equinox. Archaeologists who worked on the territory for a long time could not find a single metal object, which may indicate the Neolithic origin of the religious monument.

Tarxien or Tarxien temple complex, the largest of the temple complexes in Malta, consists of 4 buildings. It was opened by accident: workers literally stumbled upon it. It is curious that the people of the Copper Age held rituals and ceremonies there, and in the Bronze Age the temple was used as a burial place. At one of the entrances, several stone balls of various sizes were found. It is believed that they were designed to transport huge blocks.

During the excavations of Tarxien, archaeologists found a lot of ceramics, jewelry, daggers, decorated vessels, which is why this megalith is considered the most beautiful prehistoric monument in Europe.

The Khal-Saflieni Hypogeum is different from other megaliths. The word "hypogeum" is translated from Greek as "under the earth". And in fact, this is a multi-level underground temple that goes 12 meters underground. Besides, Khal-Saflieni was also used as a burial place. There were found burials of priestesses of the ancient cult of the mother goddess, as well as numerous amulets and animal bones.

The beginning of the construction of Hal-Saflieni dates back to about 4000 BC. e.

The hypogeum is also curious because the walls of its burial chambers are painted with red ocher ornament in the form of a spiral. This ornament is a symbol of prosperity and a source of sustenance; the image of a spiral was also associated with the idea of ​​continuing and resuming life.