Tarxien Temples, Malta

The Tarxien Temples on Malta were built over a thousand-year period from 3600 to 2500 BC, making them some of the oldest man-made structures still in existence. Four temples were built, from the small one on the eastern end of the site to the large, six-room temple.

The entrance sign

L at the beginning of the walkway

In the Bronze Age, the south temple was used for cremation. By the time the Romans came, the area was used for farming (for the Romans, these temples were older than the Colosseum is for us!).

South temple

A bit of inside the south temple

The central temple has a six-apse plan, including the paved main apse with a stone hearth for burning things (presumably sacrifices, later used for cremation).

Approaching the central temple

View into the central temple

The excavation from the far side of the entrance

The doorways of the temples have holes on opposite sides used for doors or screens.

Looking down the middle of the center temple

The temples also contain some intricate carving, though the meaning is lost to time.

Intricate carvings

Some of the archeological equipment

The base of a large statue was discovered here. It would have been eight feet tall and freestanding back in the day. It's assumed to be a female, perhaps a fertility goddess who watched over the temples.

Base of a large statue

The complex was discovered by a farmer in the early 1900s. He complained about the massive neolithic rocks and Sir Themistocles Zammit began excavations in 1915. Many bones and ceramics were discovered, most taken off to nearby museums like Valletta's National Museum of Archeology.

Large bowl or basin

Tables with swirls

Stairs or shelves?

More from Malta in the next post!

Arriving at Malta

We took a late flight to Malta back in February 2014. Late for us being a 4:10 p.m. departure arriving at 8:45. With the time difference it was only 7:45 but still past the kids' bedtime. We picked up a rental car as fast as possible and then headed off to our nearby bed and breakfast, The Burrow (who can resist a hobbity name like that?) in Tarxien. It is located on an alleyway off of one of the main streets. We found the street just fine but the alleyway was challenging. The local language, Malti, is a mixture of many different languages, dominated by Arabic. After one call we turned the car around and went far enough down in the original direction to find the place.

Our B&B (the next day)

We had two rooms but the kids wanted to stay with mommy. I had the upstairs room to myself. The room was cozy but I was far too tired to stay up and read.

My room

View from the bed

Since my room was at the top, I had a large balcony from which I could appreciate the town in the morning.

Would make for an exciting chase scene

More of the town

My morning alarm

Breakfast was great. The kids had cereal while my wife and I enjoyed the typical continental items--fresh bread, cold cuts, cheese. I tried a jam made from locally-grown figs that was great.

We moved to a large hotel later that day, but not before wandering around town for a little bit. We saw a nice statue of the Archangel Gabriel and Mary.

Back of the statue

The front

The streets are narrow but the houses look like fun to live in.

Typical home with upstairs balcony and a niche for a statue

We also went to the Tarxien Temples, an ancient archeological site within walking distance. More on that in the next blog post!