Day 7: Gozo – Ġgantija Temples & Marsalforn B/D
Said to be the world’s second oldest manmade religious structures, the Ġgantija Temples date back to between 3600-2500 BC. Set magnificently against a backdrop of the Maltese Islands, legend has it that a giantess built these temples single-handedly. Later on in the morning your guide will take you for a scenic stroll along the three hundred and fifty year old Salt Pans and then it’s on to the fishing village of Marsalforn, where you’ll have free time to explore.
Revised itinerary
Had a slight hangover this morning. I got out of bed a little before 8am….
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 08:11:46
Improvised connection for my shaver because the shaver socket didn’t work
We’d had the screen door shut overnight, with the actual door open. That was to get fresh, cool air into the room without resorting to the noisy air-conditioning, or to the overhead fan, which had a rattle. But when I came to drag the screen door open — “drag” because it wouldn’t slide smoothly — it came off. Breakfast: cornflakes; bacon and baked beans (I didn’t want one of the frankfurters); coffee (multiple shots of “espresso”, and on the last one I removed the cup when the dark flow turned light). Off in the minibus at 9.15am. Joy, the lady who fell, didn’t join us today. First stop was just along the road at the megalithic temples of Ġgantija, the earliest of a series of megalithic temples in Malta, older than the pyramids of Egypt. Cynthia pointed out the important features in the exhibition of artefacts that had been found in the temple area and the nearby burial site the Xagħra Circle,—
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:20:36
Entering the Ġgantija Temples Interpretation Centre
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:28:54
Flying crested bird motifs incised on a potsherd
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:33:48
Stone spheres
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:34:02
Possible use of the stone spheres
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:34:20
Plan of the Ġgantija Temples
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:37:28
Architectural block with a snake relief
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:37:44
Perhaps a phallic symbol used in the fertility cult
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:37:52
Heads of soft Globigerina limestone
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:38:18
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:38:32
Twin seated figurine (front)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:39:02
Twin seated figurine (rear)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:40:14
Stylised human and animal figurines from the Xagħra Circle
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:40:34
Seated clay figurines and a clay representation of a snail with a human head from the Xagħra Circle
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:41:00
Pottery, with styles and decorations from different phases in the Temple period
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:44:42
Skull from the Xagħra Circle
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:44:42 (detail)
Skull from the Xagħra Circle
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:46:06
Scenes from a video showing facial reconstruction based on this skull
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:47:06
Neolithic implements
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:49:08
Replica of a skirted figurine from fragments smashed and found scattered over a large area at the Xagħra Circle
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:49:58
Pendants, necklace-beads, etc.
—before we went out to the temples proper: two of them, side by side, with a single enclosing wall. We’ve been hearing crickets all through this holiday, but they were particularly noticeable as we walked in the bright, hot sun to the temples. One of the party had at first thought the sound was crickets, but changed his mind and thought it was some sort of electrical discharge from power cables. I assured him that it
WAS crickets, and added that when we’d first heard
it [i.e. in Turkey], we’d made the assumptions the other way round: electrical discharge, before being told “crickets”.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:56:40
Rear of the boundary wall enclosing both temples
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:58:30
Part of the southern side of the boundary wall
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:58:36
Rest of the southern side of the boundary wall
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 09:59:52
The highest surviving part of the temple wall (the south-eastern corner), and the entrance to the southern temple
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:00:40
Entering the southern temple
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:00:48
Entrance to the southern temple (left); entrance to the northern temple (right)
Cynthia guided us in the larger temple to the south, older than the other by some hundreds of years, first; then we were given free time to look around.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:04:12
Nearer left apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:04:44
Nearer right apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:05:26
Looking back at the entrance
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:08:06 (movie screen-capture)
Farther left apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:09:56 (movie screen-capture 2)
Farther right apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:10:54
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:12:26
Front of the temples
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:12:26 (detail 1)
Front of the temples: southern temple
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:12:26 (detail 2)
Front of the temples: northern temple
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:15:10
Janet and I visited the smaller temple to the north. Both are constructed with circular apses off a central corridor: two off to the left, two opposite them to the right, and one at the end. The far apse of the second temple, though, is reduced to be almost flat.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:17:38
Entrance to the northern temple
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:18:20
Nearer left apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:19:38
Nearer right apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:20:02
19th century graffiti
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:20:18
19th century graffiti
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:20:32
Entrance to the farther left apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:20:42
Entrance to the farther right apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:21:08
Farther left apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:21:20
Farther right apse
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:21:44
Farthest “flattened apse”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:22:26
Farthest “flattened apse”
Then we went up to an old semaphore tower, Ta’ Kenuna, built, not by Maltese Grandmasters, but by the British in 1848, now used as a telecommunications array. It’s situated in a small botanical garden, and provides views around it, below, of the islands Comino and Malta, as well as of Gozo itself.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:53:24
Ta’ Kenuna Tower
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:55:44
Near distance: Għajnsielem and the Church of St. Anthony of Padova
Middle distance: Comino
Far distance: Malta
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:55:44 (detail 1)
Church of St. Anthony of Padova, Għajnsielem, and the island of Comino
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:55:44 (detail 2)
Comino, with St. Mary’s Tower visible
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:55:58
Parish Church and Fort Chambray, Għajnsielem
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:56:14
Parish Church and part of Fort Chambray, Għajnsielem
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:58:38
Parish Church and Fort Chambray, Għajnsielem
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:58:38 (detail 1)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:58:38 (detail 2)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:58:38 (detail 3)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 10:59:44
The sea beyond Għajnsielem
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:08:00
Rotunda of St. John the Baptist, Xewkija
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:08:00 (detail)
Rotunda of St. John the Baptist, Xewkija
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:08:22
Victoria
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:08:22 (detail 1)
Victoria, lower city
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:08:22 (detail 2)
Victoria, Cittadella
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:09:36
Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:09:36 (detail)
Xagħra: Parish Church of Marija Bambina (above); Ġgantija Temples (below)
Then we went to Calypso Cave near Xagħra. As well as
the mouth of the cave facing the sea, there was an upper aperture which was visible to the left of the platform
(i.e. left as one faced the sea), with an old handrail which was evidence that there had once been access into the cave that way. Gozo’s only sandy beach could be seen to the right.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:24:40
Calypso Cave, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:25:00
Approaching Calypso Cave, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:26:30
Approaching Calypso Cave, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:27:58
Ramla Bay to the east
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:27:58 (detail)
Ramla Bay to the east
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:28:42
Calypso Cave from the seaward side
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:29:46
Calypso Cave from above
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:30:02
Calypso Cave from above
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:30:54
Calypso Cave from above
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 11:31:06
Calypso Cave from above
Then we went through Victoria to Żebbuġ overlooking the sea, and from there along a narrow lane zigzagging down the steep slope to some centuries-old salt evaporation ponds that are still used.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:01:42
Seen from the minibus: the Salt Pans just west of Xwejni Bay
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:05:12
The Salt Pans just west of Xwejni Bay
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:05:22
The Salt Pans, Xwejni Bay, and the hillock Qolla l-Bajda
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:07:54
The Salt Pans, Xwejni Bay, and the hillock Qolla l-Bajda
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:12:16
“Salt shop”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:12:30
“Salt shop”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:14:34
Salt Pans
Then we went to the nearby seaside resort of Marsalforn, where we had some free time.
Janet and I went to a café/bar called Smugglers’ Cave; she had Coke Zero and I a pint of
Cisk (12:45 on the till receipt).
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:43:14 Smugglers’ Cave, Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:57:06
Marsalforn
There was a church just up a hill from there, but it was closed.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 12:59:06
Church of St. Paul’s Shipwreck, Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:01:02
Triq ix-Xagħra, Marsalforn
Marsalforn is situated in a bay, and at the inner corner of this the road goes over a bridge, but the “river” it bridges is just a dry stony bed. Perhaps it becomes a torrent when the rain comes.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:03:34
Il-Wied (“The Valley”), Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:04:42
Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:05:12
Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:05:48
Xagħra, seen from il-Wied, Marsalforn
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:10:24
Marsalforn Harbour
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 13:15:54
“Is-Salvatur”, statue of Christ the Saviour on the hill Tal-Merżuq
We met up at 1.15pm, and were taken back to Xagħra and to the hotel. Back in the room, I wrote the two postcards, then we walked to the Piazza. The
Breeze Restaurant at the near end opposite the church was closed, so we went to one about halfway down the left side: the
Oleander. As I waited for the food order to come, I went across the piazza and a short way down a street to the right, to a post-box outside the post office. I had pasta with pieces of Gozitan sausage, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped olives in a creamy tomato sauce and topped with thin slices of hard (perhaps local) cheese, with a 0.5ℓ carafe of red wine, and finished off with an espresso.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:34:48 Looking west from the Oleander along Triq Il Knisja, Xagħra; (left) the closed restaurant
The Breeze
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:41:08
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Then we went in the church. There was no-one praying there, so we had a more thorough look around than hitherto.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:44:06
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:44:46
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:45:28
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:46:16
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:47:36
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:48:00
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:49:16
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:49:48
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:50:28
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:52:20
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:55:52
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra:
“Faith”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:56:14
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra:
“Hope”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:56:54
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra:
“Charity”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:57:14
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra:
“Religion”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 15:57:34
Parish Church of Marija Bambina, Xagħra
Then we walked along a street at the side of the church (can’t remember which side, but the two streets merge farther along) for a quarter of a mile or so, before turning back.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:08:24
Corner of Triq it-Tigrija and Triq Gnien Xibla, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:08:24 (detail 1)
Triq Gnien Xibla, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:08:24 (detail 2)
Corner of Triq it-Tigrija and Triq Gnien Xibla, Xagħra
We went back along that street, Triq it-Tigrija, which goes to the south of the church,—
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:09:08
Back along Triq it-Tigrija
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:11:38
Red “EiiR” post-box
—but turned right into the street that goes to the north of the church, Triq l-Arċipriet Ġużeppi Diacono. For we’d seen a sign pointing to “Ninu’s Cave” on a previous walk, in a street leading off that street, and found it again.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:15:06
Triq l-Arċipriet Ġużeppi Diacono, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:17:46
Triq Jannar “January Street”, Xagħra
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:17:46 (detail 1)
Triq Jannar, Xagħra, with a sign “Ninu’s Cave”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:17:46 (detail 2)
“Ninu’s Cave”
The cave was underneath a private house, where there was a sign telling visitors to ring the bell. A young boy came to the door, and he conducted us down narrow steps —
Janet was wary of going down them at first — into the cave, where he showed us the stalactite and stalagmite formations. I gave him €10, because I didn’t think that €5 apiece was excessive.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:20:14
Bust of “Ġuzepp Rapa — memorial to mark the centenary of the discovery of the cave”
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:20:14 (detail)
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:21:20
Ninu’s Cave
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:21:28
Ninu’s Cave
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:21:50
Ninu’s Cave
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:22:24
Ninu’s Cave
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:23:52
Ninu’s Cave
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:25:46
Our young guide
On a number of walks to the Piazza, in Triq l-Għar ta’ Xerri (“Xerri’s Grotto Street”) we’d passed a “Xerri’s Grotto” sign, another private house with a bell to ring. A woman came across the road to meet us this time, and took us down a steep, narrow spiral staircase in what was intended to be a deep cylindrical well-bore. It was rightly named a grotto, for there was a winding path that ended at its starting point. The woman pointed out various shapes of water-deposited features, likened to animals,
e.g. a giraffe. She actually charged us €2.50 apiece, so she got less than she’d have done if it had been a voluntary donation.
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:38:52
In Triq l-Għar ta’ Xerri
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:40:52
Entering Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:42:18
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:42:32
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:43:04
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:43:54
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:44:26
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:44:42
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:45:06
Winding way through Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:48:26
Winding way through Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:48:44
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:48:56
Xerri’s Grotto
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:49:46
Xerri’s Grotto: a second well-shaft
Finally we went back to the hotel,—
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 16:56:06
Hibiscus
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 17:00:38
Seen from outside the Cornucopia Hotel: “Is-Salvatur”, statue of Christ the Saviour on the hill Tal-Merżuq
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 17:00:38 (detail)
Seen from outside the Cornucopia Hotel: “Is-Salvatur”, statue of Christ the Saviour on the hill Tal-Merżuq
Wednesday 23 September 2015 — 17:02:42
Cornucopia Hotel
—and to the room. … Felt a bit unwell and lay
down. Dozed a bit. As 7pm approached a demoralised feeling was replacing the unwell feeling,
i.e. the feeling of not being able to face sitting in the hotel restaurant risking being served the likes of that dry roast lamb and green acidic slime. So
Janet went alone. As we tried to drag the screen door open it fell off again. A very agreeable seeming hotel on the face of it — but dilapidated in one or two areas: the light in the corridor to the bedroom doesn’t work (reported twice); the shaver socket doesn’t work (reported once); the screen door is too stiff to draw across without brute force, and it easily comes out of its track completely (why bother reporting it when nothing gets done?). I’d thought of the word “dilapidated” about the hotel in Sliema, because there were one or two things wrong in the room; but that wasn’t correct because the word is defined “fallen into ruin, decay, or disrepair”, and at least at the
Preluna they repaired the things we reported as defective. …
[Later] we had a show on the Asus netbook of the remaining days’ photos and
videos… As I write, there are many gaps in previous days’ write-ups, but I persevered with today’s and more or less got the whole day done (short of inserting photos and captions, for which I’ll need internet look-ups,
etc. [now done, obviously!]). It took me to ca.11.25pm, when I shut down and got ready for bed.
