As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
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As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
As seen on 18 November 2022 CE
Image credit: Dorset Druid
The heavily eroded spiral like motifs can just be made out here, they are much more obvious on the full size image.
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2009
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2009
Apologies about the bit of duplication, view of the temple in Ggantija, the other pics I have are very similar to Fitzcoraldos so I said Id just post this one.
Image credit: Bawn79 © 2007
Fossils in the limestone walls echo the carved spirals.
These balls have been found at a number of temple sites.
There is quite a lot of debate as to what their function was ranging from 'rollers' upon which the megaliths were used to a form of 'megalithic skittle'!
A panoramic shot of the rear of the cyclopean wall at the rear of the temples
The entrance of the temples face the sacred table-topped hill of Naffara and the sea beyond.
The apse in the south temple
Articles
Easter 2010. The Ggantija Temple on Gozo showed its age with much of it being supported by scaffolding but it was still an impressive site. It is believed to be the oldest free standing man made structure in the world, constructed around 3600 BC.
Although not much to explore as most of the site was fenced off the temple oozed character and strength. The stone structure contains 2 temples, each seemed to honour the Goddess with its curves.
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When it comes to 'looking at rocks' my family and I have an unspoken agreement, they are happy to tolerate my obsession as long as it doesn't involve me dragging them around a bunch of sites or trying to convince them how wonderful these places are. So I had a choice to make, I knew I could get away with taking them to one prehistoric site on Gozo. The island has many prehistoric sites from standing stones to temples to Dolmens, so where would it be? Without a doubt it had to be Ggantija.
Ggantija is signposted and quite easy to find. Once you get to Xaghra just look for the large car park and you know you're there.
When walking towards the temple it is worth looking at the surrounding walls. Not far inside of the main gate there are some large orthostats that have been interpreted as possibly another structure associated with the main temple.
Another feature worth looking out for is The North Cave, which is a cave just at the top of the site. The cave has been interpreted as possibly starting out as a rock cut tomb which then became a rubbish pit for the temples.
As for Ggantija itself, the scale of the walls is overwhelming. Mr Cope is spot-on when he refers to the walls as Cyclopean. I just had to stop and take it all in. This structure is five and a half thousand years old and was build by people who had no knowledge of metal. These stones were cut, erected and had fallen long out of use long before any Egyptian had even considered building a pyramid.
Of course the Maltese temples were not the first structures in Europe, we on the margins of western Europe had been erecting our megaliths and building tombs even before the Maltese culture had risen and flourished, but what is important about these these Maltese and Gozitan temples where designed and built as public buildings, they had torba floors, the walls were plastered, they contained ornately carved decorative stonework as well as carved features such as holes for door posts, animal tethers, libation bowls etc.
I could bore you here with a long explanation of the lay-out of the temples but I'll spare you that. In a nutshell you have two temples enclosed by a huge wall, the older, western temple has five apses and the eastern temple has four plus what the guidebooks call a 'niche'. The Ggantija temples should not be seen in isolation, this part of the island has many prehistoric monuments. The Brochtorff Circle which is now known as the Xaghra circle is just on the other side of town, the Santa Verna temples lie 700 metres west of town and there are various other bits and bobs including Ta Ghejzu, a cave that yielded pottery from the Ggantija phase and has the possible remains of a temple on it's margins.
Ggantija is an extremely important site and is treated as such by the Goitans, it has had the full heritage treatment but is not over the top, this is no 'Stonehenge-site-in-cage' it is a site you can still interact with and come away feeling that you've had a personal experience. As temples go Ggantija is definitely a world class site and my second favourite temple of the islands.
Sites within 20km of Ggantija
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Ta Ghejzu
photo 3 -
Xaghra Stone Circle
photo 9 -
Santa Verna
photo 4 -
Gebla ta’ Sansuna
photo 3 description 1 -
Gozo
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Borg Il-Gharib
photo 4 -
Ta’ L-Imrejzbiet
photo 3 -
Id-Dura Tal-Mara
photo 4 -
Ta’ Marziena
photo 2 -
Ta’ Cenc
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Borg L’ Imramma
photo 3 -
Ta’ Cenc Cart Ruts
photo 3 -
Qala
photo 3 -
Ta’ Zminka
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Xemxija Temple
photo 2 -
Xemxija
photo 2 description 1 -
Ghar Il-Midfna
photo 2 -
Xemxija
photo 3 -
Ta’ Hagrat
photo 13 description 1 -
Bugibba
photo 12 description 2 -
Mgarr Cart Ruts
photo 4 -
Skorba
photo 8 description 1 -
Tal-Qadi
photo 9 description 1 link 1 -
Bingemma
photo 4 description 1