GGANTIJA ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK

From the prehistoric temple of Ggantija (Ta' Sunsana), impressive ruins remain, unearthed in 1827 and loaded with symbols: the clover of fertility, the spiral of life, the opulent curves of a fertile divinity. Listed as a Unesco monument, it is the oldest of the non-recessed temples and the oldest of the 25 temples discovered in Malta. Built on the model of Karnak or Stonehenge in Great Britain, it dates from around 3600 BC.

The Ggantija temple, older than the Egyptian pyramids, is shaped like two clovers, one with five leaves (the southern temple), the other with four (the northern temple), both surrounded by a common wall.

The southern temple, the best preserved, comprises five rooms of unequal dimensions. In the first room, on the left as you enter, blocks testify to the red color that must have completely covered the walls of the complex. A monumental passageway leads to the last rooms of the southern temple. Beyond this point, you'll find three rooms, the last of which was probably covered by a curved roof. The last of these, which is very curved, was probably covered.

The outer walls, made of monumental blocks sometimes up to 6 m high, had to be shored up as they were in danger of collapsing. We don't know how these blocks were brought here, but it seems unlikely that they could have been lifted without special devices, even by several individuals.