Ghar Dalam Cave and Museum

Fax.: 2165 9579

Info Telefon: 2165 7419

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

Ghar Dalam Cave is a highly important site as it was here that the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta, some 7,400 years ago, was discovered. What makes the site even more fascinating is that it was in use during World War II, when it served first as an air raid shelter and later as a fuel storage depot.
The display area consists of two parts: the cave; and the museum, which exhibits a remarkable wealth of finds from animal bones to human artefacts. The cave was formed by overlaying river running at right angles to the present-day cave. It is some 144 metres deep, but only the first fifty metres are open to visitors.

The history of the cave and of the Islands can be decoded from Ghar Dalam’s stratigraphy. The lowermost layers, more than 500,000 years old, contained the fossil bones of dwarf elephants, hippopotami, micro-mammals and birds. Above the pebble layer that follows, is the so-called ‘deer’ layer, dated to around 18,000 years ago. The top layer, or ‘cultural layer’, dates to less than 10,000 years and holds evidence of the first humans on the Island.

The museum was opened to the public in the early 1930s and is a piece of history in its own right. It is a fine example of museum display in the Victorian style. Showcases contain bones of similar size and origin mounted on boards in uniform rows. Teeth are placed in jars or stacked in rows. Everything was designed to impress through its sheer quantity with little regard given to an exhibit’s scientific or educational value. The mounted skeletons of a brown bear, baby elephant, baby hippopotamus, deer, wolf and fox all belong to present-day animals and are not from the cave.

A didactic display opened to the public in 2002 covers various aspects of the cave’s formation and charts the animal and human finds. It also provides information on the forms of fossil fauna that were present on the Maltese Islands during the Ice Age.

Ghar Dalam also has a small garden of indigenous and exotic plants and trees. Specimens include the native, national plant, Palaeocyanus crassifolius (the Maltese Centaury) and the national tree Tetraclinis articulata (Sandarac Gum Tree). There are also two large specimens of the exotic and locally rare Wigandia caracasana with its thick fleshy leaves and violet blossoms.

The garden acts as home to native lizards and insects such as the slow moving chameleon (Chamaleo chameleon). In summer months, the ‘song’ of the male cicada (Cicada orni), echoes through the gardens and surrounding valley. Several species of birds such as the Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) also make their home here.

Ghar Dalam is of particular interest to those studying the geological, geomorphological, speleological, palaeontological, archaeological and ecological sciences. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Ghar ta’ Ghejzu

George Azzopardi

Info Telefon: 2156 4188
Besucher-Email: george.azzopardi@gov.mt

This site is not open to the general public.

Gharb Folklore Museum

Info Telefon: +356 561929
Besucher-Email: jb@ese.malta.com

An 18th Centuary House.
 

Grandmaster's Palace - The Palace Armoury

Fax.: 2123 8480

Info Telefon: 2124 9349

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The Palace Armoury is one of the world’s greatest arms collections housed in their original buildings, and ranks among the most valuable historic monuments of European culture.
The Knights of St John were a unique brotherhood of resolute warrior monks. From Malta, their island stronghold, these combatant aristocrats from the noblest houses of Europe, carried out their relentless crusade against the Ottoman Turks. The Palace Armoury is certainly one of the most visible and tangible symbols of the past glories of the Sovereign Hospitaller Military Order of Malta.

Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt transferred the Order’s arsenal to the palace in 1604. It was the pride of the Order. Apart from being lavishly adorned with impressive arms trophies, it held enough arms to equip thousands of soldiers. It was housed in the magnificent hall at the rear of the building, right above its present location, which were originally the stables. In 1975, the entire collection was transferred to its present ground floor location to make way for the Islands’ new House of Representatives.

During the 1850s, the British Government intended to remove the collection for safe keeping to London. However, this was never fully undertaken and in 1860 the armoury was officially opened as Malta’s first public museum.

Although only a fraction of its original splendour, the Armoury still contains abundant material of Italian, German, French and Spanish origin from principal arms production centres. Outstanding examples of splendid parade armour by master armourers command pride of place.

The armour decorator’s art is amply displayed on various exquisite pieces. Also displayed are exotic examples of Turkish armour in the Islamic & Ottoman section. The armoury also constitutes a rare example of a working arsenal surviving in its original building. It is all the more interesting because it includes with the massed arms of the common soldiers, the enriched personal armours of the nobility. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Hagar Qim Temples

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2142 4231

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The temple of Hagar Qim, excavated for the first time in 1839, dates from the Tarxien phase (c.3200-2500 BC). It stands on a hilltop overlooking the sea and the islet of Fifla and lies some 2km south-west of the village of Qrendi. Adjacent to Hagar Qim, further towards the cliff face, lies another remarkable temple site, Mnajdra. The surrounding area, which is typical of Mediterranean garrigue and spectacular in its starkness and isolation, is designated a Heritage Park.

Much of interest has been unearthed at Hagar Qim, notably a decorated pillar altar, two table-altars and some of the `fat lady' statues on display in the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta.

Hagar Qim itself consists of a single temple unit. However, it is not clear if it was constructed as a four- or five-apse structure. Another aspect of Hagar Qim is the small, three-apse structure near the temple which may have been the quarters of the temple's priest or shaman. Other temple ruins stand a few metres away from the main temple.

The forecourt and façade follow the pattern typical of temples across the Islands. Particularly noteworthy are the larger orthostats at the corners, which are notched to take the second of the horizontal courses above. Apart from the replacement of a few original blocks which fell, such as the lintel over the main doorway, no restoration has been done.

Beyond the first pair of apses, the temple interior is more firmly screened off than is usual at other temple sites. Visual access seems to have been limited to porthole slabs. The only decorations at this point are a single, displaced sill stone bearing a pair of opposing spirals like those of Tarxien Temple, and the most attractive of all free-standing altars discovered at temple sites.

Through the next doorway, the right-hand apse has a curious setting of low orthostats forming a sort of pan as if intended for the corralling of animals. The left-hand side apse has a high trilithon altar on its left and three on pillar altars, two on the right with another in a small chamber behind. Less an apse than a passage, this gives access to one of the additional chambers. It consists of part of a temple unit, a central court, niche and right apse, tacked closely against the main temple. A low standing pillar stands at the end of the apse. A more complete unit – entrance, court, niche, and one pair of apses, lies to the north, and two simple oval chambers to the west.

In the external enclosing wall, the first orthostat behind the right-hand corner of the façade is one of the largest of any temple. Standing at 6.4m long, it is estimated to weigh close to 20 tonnes. The upright menhir stands 5.2m high. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Hagra ta’ Sansuna

Info Telefon: 2156 4188
Besucher-Email: george.azzopardi@gov.mt

This site is not open to the general public.

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

hypogeum@gov.mt
Tel.: 2180 5018/9
Fax.: 2180 5021

Info Telefon: 2182 5579
Besucher-Email: hypogeum@gov.mt

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
To ensure its conservation, the site’s microclimate is strictly regulated. For this reason, the site is open to a maximum of 80 visitors each day. A tour of the site starts with a brief introductory exhibition and multilingual audio-visual film focusing on the temple building peoples and the Hypogeum’s relationship to Malta’s temple sites.

From Monday to Sunday seven tours will be conducted, starting on the hour from 9.00 till 16.00 (last tour). There is no tour at 12.00.

To plan your sightseeing, we advise that you book ahead as tours are often full up to weeks in advance. For your convenience, you can use our new online booking (read below). Tickets for the Hypogeum are also available in person from the Hypogeum visitor centre in Paola and from the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.

For booking availability, please log into www.heritagemaltashop.com and make a reservation request online. Our staff will be contacting you with further details. For more information and any problems with booking please mail to hypogeum@gov.mt

Tickets can be purchased from the following Museums and Sites:
Malta: Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Paola and National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta
Gozo: Ggantija Temples, Xaghra and Museum of Archaeology, Citadel

The Hypogeum, or underground cavity, is a unique monument and a splendid example of architecture in the negative. It was discovered accidentally in 1902 by a stone mason who was laying the foundations of some houses.
A Jesuit priest, Father Magri S.J., was appointed to report on the underground remains. However in 1907, he was sent on mission work to Sfax, Tunisia, and while there he passed away. Unfortunately, his reports of this early, critical work in the unearthing the Hypogeum have never been found.

The next person to assume responsibility for the excavation was Temi Zammit, the first Director of Malta's Museum's Department and a distinguished professor of medicine. Sir Temi was later knighted for his contribution to medical science. His excavation yielded a wealth of archaeological material including much pottery and human bones, personal ornaments such as beads and amulets, little carved animals and larger figurines.

The Hypogeum consists of halls, chambers and passages hewn out of the living rock and covering some 500m². The rock-cut chambers are of a diverse shapes and sizes and finished to different standards of workmanship. The complex is grouped in three levels ? the upper level (3600-3300 BC), the middle level (3300-3000 BC), and the lower level (3150 -2500 BC). The deepest room in the lower level is 10.6 metres under road surface.

The upper level consists of a large hollow with a central passage and burial chambers cut on each side. One of the chambers still contains original burial deposits. The middle level consists of various chambers very smoothly finished, which give the impression of built masonry. The workmanship is all the more impressive when one considers that the chambers were meticulously carved using only flint and stone tools. Curvilinear and spiral paintings in red ochre are still visible in some areas.

This unique monument is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list. To ensure its conservation, the site's microclimate is strictly regulated: temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide levels are constantly monitored to ensure the Hypogeum's survival for future generations.

A tour of the site starts with a brief introductory exhibition and multilingual audio-visual film focusing on the temple building peoples and the Hypogeum's relationship to Malta's overground temple sites. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Malta Maritime Museum

Fax.: 2180 9090

Info Telefon: 2166 0052

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The Museum is housed in the former British Naval Bakery at Vittoriosa, one of the Three Cities overlooking Grand Harbour. The building, designed by British architect William Scamp, was erected between 1842 and 1845 on the site of the old covered slipway of the Knights of St John.

The bakery was the hub of the Victualling Yard and supplied the Royal Navy with its daily requirements of bread and biscuit. After World War II, it was converted into offices and stores and as the headquarters of the Admiralty Constabulary. The building remained part of the naval establishment up to the closure of the British base in 1979.

On entering the Museum, you will find the ‘Anadrian Hall’ which exhibits the engine room machinery of the Anadrian, a steam-driven grab dredger built in 1951 for Malta by Fergusson Brothers of Port Glasgow. The first floor houses a display on the Merchant Navy and exhibits a collection of detailed ship replicas and paintings illustrating 19th and 20th century vessels most of which served on the Malta run. The nearby St Angelo Hall, the museum’s events and lecture room, is decorated with an array of colourful ship badges.

Organised into thematic and chronological sectors, the Main Hall illustrates developments from ancient times to the end of the rule of the Order of St John in Malta. Navigational charts, nautical instruments and a series of portraits set the scene for the navy of the Order of St John. This display includes paintings, weapons, uniforms, anchors, maps, models and other artefacts dating from 1530 to 1798.

An entire room is dedicated to traditional Maltese sea crafts and other objects that indicate popular traditions and Malta’s long-standing maritime vocation. In the Customs Hall, there is a variety of standard weights and measures and other objects including the uniform of an inspector of Marine Police which bear witness to the importance of Malta’s historic links with maritime commerce and traffic.

For almost two hundred years, Malta was the home of the British Mediterranean fleet. The Royal Navy kept a vast establishment on the Islands. The final hall presents an overview of Malta as a naval base, and depicts aspects of naval and civilian life, both leisure and work. There is also a wide collection of paintings, photographs, models, uniforms, weapons, instruments and other artefacts that illustrate the history of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean during the 19th and 20th centuries and attest to the Navy’s impact on the economy and social life on the Maltese islands. (c) Heritage Malta

 

Mnajdra Temples

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2142 4231

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

Mnajdra lies tucked in a hollow in the cliffs on Malta's southern coast. The site is probably the most atmospheric of all Malta's temples. It lies in an isolated position on a rugged stretch of coast overlooking the isle of Fifla and just 500m from another principle temple site, Hagar Qim. The surrounding area is designated a Heritage Park and is typical of rugged Mediterranean garigue landscape. Barren in summer, the landscape is transformed in spring by flowering herbs and shrubs.

Mnajdra is a complex site consisting of three temples overlooking an oval forecourt. The first and oldest temple is a simple three-apsed building and dates to the Ggantija phase (3600-3200 BC). The small rubble walls are a modern reconstruction but the small uprights, with their pitted decoration, are original.

The most impressive of the Mnajdra temples is the third, with its largely intact faûze and bench constructed in the early Tarxien phase (3150 ? 2500 BC). This temple is perhaps the finest surviving on the Islands.

The masonry shows intricate knowledge of building techniques and excellent workmanship. The concave, corbelled form of the walls indicates the possibility of some sort of domed structure as a roof. The spiral carvings and decorated, pitted slabs give an exceptional aspect to this remarkable site. Most dramatic is the porthole niche to the left, framed in its trilithon and two strangely tapered orthostats on either side. All are ornamented with the dotted pattern typical of Malta's temple decoration.

The middle temple was the last to be built later in the Tarxien phase. It was inserted between the other two, and set at a higher level on a sort of terrace. Its apses have walls of orthostatic slabs of modest height, topped by horizontal courses, all of Globigerina limestone. Of particular note is the engraving of a temple facade on the first taller orthostat to the left of the passage leading to the inner apses.

The ruins of Mnajdra yielded valuable relics - stone and clay statuettes, shell and stone ornaments, flint tools and decorated earthenware. The lack of any metal objects here and at other similar temples is evidence of its Neolithic origin.

The Lower Temple has a particular astronomical alignment. At the Equinox, on the 20th March and the 22nd September, the rays of the sun pass directly through the temple's main doorway and light up the main axis. At the summer solstice (21st June), the rays of the sun light up the edge of a megalith to the left of the doorway, connecting the first pair of chambers to the inner chambers. At the winter solstice (21st December), the same effect can be seen on the corresponding megalith on the right hand side.

On these particular days, the temples are opened to the public at sunrise to view this extraordinary event. Please check our Events diary for more details. (c) Heritage Malta
 

National Museum of Natural History

Fax.: 2145 2818

Info Telefon: 2145 5951

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The National Museum of Natural History is the national repository of biological specimens. Both life and earth sciences are represented in the museum, which has a particular focus on the Maltese Islands.
The Museum is housed in the 18th century Magisterial Palace of Justice within the medieval walled city of Mdina. The original building served as the seat of the Università, or local Government. In the early 18th century, a new entrance to the city was constructed and the Portuguese Grand Master Antonio Manuel de Vilhena (1722-36) re-structured the building at personal expense and transformed it into the present palace. A bronze bust of the Grandmaster of the Order lies above the main door and Vilhena’s coat-of-arms are sculptured on the main gateway and inside the portico.

In the early 20th century the palace was converted into a hospital through the generous funding of HRH the Duke of Connaught and was officially inaugurated on 22nd April, 1909, by King Edward VII. Throughout the forty or so years of its existence, it was popularly known as the Connaught Hospital. The National Museum of Natural History was set up in the palace in 1973.

The Museum houses some historically important collections, namely Mamo’s choncological collection, Mizzi’s mineral collection, and the various collections of Giuseppe Despott. The reference collection holds over 10,000 rocks and minerals, over 3,500 birds, bird's eggs and nests, 200 mammals, over 200 fish species, thousands of local and exotic shells and insects. The fossil collection is also noteworthy as it contains a number of large fish, numerous species of sea urchins and other marine fauna found embedded in limestone rocks.

The museum focuses mainly on the faunal aspects of natural sciences and the current displays cover themes such as human evolution, insects, birds and habitats and marine ecosystems. The Geology and Palaeontology displays are of particular merit and are of both local and international interest. The museum also houses a reference library on natural sciences. (c) Heritage Malta