Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples
Two Neolithic megalithic temple groups on the south coast, sheltered and served by a visitor centre.
Hagar Qim stands on a ridge above the sea in the south of Malta and was built in the Ggantija and Tarxien phases, roughly between 3600 and 3200 BC. Its facade is formed of upright globigerina limestone slabs, including the largest megalith on the islands, a block weighing about twenty tonnes. Inside, a series of oval chambers opens off a central corridor, with niches, altars and porthole doorways. Excavation in the nineteenth century produced the group of corpulent stone figures known as the fat ladies and the small Venus of Malta.
About 500 metres downhill, reached by a path across the garigue, lies Mnajdra, a cluster of three temples on a terrace above the sea facing the islet of Filfla. The south temple is aligned so that at the equinoxes sunlight falls along its main axis, and at the solstices it strikes the megaliths flanking the inner doorways. Both sites form part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of Malta's Megalithic Temples, and since 2009 they have been covered by protective tent canopies and served by a shared visitor centre.
Highlights
- Facade megalith weighing around twenty tonnes
- Solar alignments in the south temple at Mnajdra
- Part of the UNESCO Megalithic Temples of Malta
- Protective canopies and visitor centre since 2009
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