Ggantija and Goddesses

Today we visited the megalithic Ggantija Temples, one of the oldest manmade structures in the world, built over many years from 3600 to 3000 BC. Rituals of life and fertility seem to have been practised here and the architectural achievements were quite exceptional considering this was built more than 5000 years ago.


We also visited an old church in Xaghra and a historic windmill built in 1725 and still in use in the 1980s until the last miller died in 1987!

We also visited a grotto- actually a limestone cave discovered in 1922 when a farmer was digging a well. It still belongs to the same family and is in a street surrounded by houses and entered through a door as if entering a house. We descended a spiral set of steps, really narrow and steep, down into a cave with stalagmites and stalactites’, some resembling bacon or weird animals. The guide was the wife of the grandson of the man who originally discovered the cave.

We spent the afternoon at the fabulous Blue Lagoon on Malta’s third island, Comino. The water had incredible visibility and a beautiful azure colour. The small sandy beach and the rocks surrounding the lagoon were packed with sun worshippers. Deckchairs and umbrellas were wall to wall. Thank heavens we did not come on a Sunday. We swam in the clear blue water for a long time then sat and enjoyed a great lunch and gazed at this quite celestial scene.

Returning to Marsalforn to our apartment, we decided to have one last swim – another heavenly experience.

                                        One of the temples at Ggantija.

                                       Can you spot the goddess in pink?  That is Gail.

In the cavern.