Ìgantija Temples Xag˙ra, Gozo

Gozo Area Office
St Martin’s Quarter, The Citadel
Victoria VCT1882, Gozo
Tel: 2156 4188, Fax: 2155 9008
e-mail: [email protected]
www.heritagemalta.org
The Ìgantija Temples
Xag˙ra, Gozo
Site History
The Ìgantija Temples were the
first of the Maltese prehistoric
monuments to be cleared of the
accumulation of earth and debris.
Soon after his transfer to Gozo
as Commandant of the British
Troops and Administrator of the
Island in 1820, Lt. Col. John Otto
Bayer cleared the site by
employing convicts from the
Gozo Prison and forking out all
expenses from his own pocket.
Prior to their excavation, these
ruins resembled a large mound
encircled by a colossal wall, and
were believed to be the remnants
of a defensive tower built by a
race of Giants sometime in the
long forgotten past, hence the
name Ìgantija (’©gant’ Maltese
for giant). Eventually, following
Otto Bayer’s excavation, Ìgantija
remained uncared for and open
to depredations for over a
century, until the 1930s when
the land on which the ruins stand
was expropriated by the
Government. Substantial
restoration works were carried
out and the site was officially
opened to the public in 1949.
Today, Ìgantija is the most visited
cultural attraction in the Maltese
islands.
With the establishment of
Heritage Malta (the National
Agency for Museums and Cultural
Heritage) in 2003, the Ìgantija
Temples passed under the
Agency’s responsibility and a
comprehensive conservation,
presentation and interpretation
project is currently being
implemented to ensure their
preservation for the enjoyment
of present and future generations.
The Ìgantija Temples are open daily between 09.00 and 17.00hrs.
Last admission is at 16.30hrs. Closed on Good Friday, 24, 25, 31
December and 1 January.
Reaching the area
By self-drive car: Drive towards Xag˙ra and follow the signs. Parking
is easily accessible close to the complex.
Other Heritage Malta Museums and sites in Gozo:
Ta’ Kola Windmill, Xag˙ra
Gozo Museum of Archaeology, The Citadel, Victoria
Old Prison, The Citadel, Victoria
Natural Science Museum, The Citadel, Victoria
Folklore Museum, The Citadel, Victoria
Xag˙ra Heritage Map
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This brochure is handed out free of charge.
PRODUCED BY MIDSEA BOOSK LTD
1. Ìgantija
Temples
2. Ta’ G˙ejΩu
Prehistoric
Remains
3. Xag˙ra Stone
Circle
4. St Anthony the
Abbot Chapel
5. Santa Verna
Megalithic
Temple Remains
6. 1814 Plague
Hospital and
Cemetery
7. Ta’ S ansuna
Prehistoric
Remains
8. Xag˙ra Parish
Church
9. Xag˙ra Local
Council
10. Ta’ Kola
Windmill
Ìgantija Temples
Xag˙ra, Gozo
“the oldest free-standing
structure in the world”
A BRIEF GUIDE
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1
The awe-inspiring megalithic complex of
Ìgantija was erected in three stages over
a period of several hundred years (c.36003000 BC) by the community of farmers
and herders inhabiting the small and
isolated island of Gozo (Malta) at the
centre of the Mediterranean.
Ìgantija consists of two temple units
built side by side, enclosed within a single
massive boundary wall, and sharing the
same facade. Both temples have a single
and central doorway, opening onto a
common and spacious forecourt that is in
turn raised on a high terrace. Rituals of
life and fertility seem to have been
practised within these precincts, while the
sophisticated architectural achievements
reveal that something really exceptional
was taking place in the Maltese Islands
more than five thousand years ago.
This complex stayed in use for some
five thousand years, down to the midthird millennium BC, when the Maltese
Temple Culture disappeared abruptly and
mysteriously. Eventually, the successive
inhabitants of the Early Bronze Age (25001500 BC) adopted the site as a cremation
cemetery.
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1. The main axis of the
South Temple is paved
with flagstones
2. Elaborate altar arrangements and carved
decorations are preserved in the South
Temple
3. The outer wall incorporates a number
of huge blocks measuring over five metres
in length and weighing several tonnes
Plan of the Temples showing extent of
plaza in front of the megalithic complex
Sections of the facade and of the inner apses survive
to the remarkable height of seven metres
PLAN: DANIEL CILIA
COURTESY: MALTA, PREHISTORY AND TEMPLES, D. TRUMP