Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Malta (Northern Region)

  • Malta (Northern Region) – St. Paul’s Bay – Malta National Aquarium

    For reasons I don’t entirely understand, but won’t complain about, the National Aquarium is on the list of locations that I can visit free of charge with my Malta Heritage Pass. But, aquariums are exciting (not as exciting as zoos though), so given that it was free to go in, I went.

    Jellyfish!

    This very much discriminated against tall people, as children and short adults could walk through this mini-tunnel. This reminds me, this is another place that Dylan and Leon would like. Not because they’re short, which they obviously are because they’re young, but because they’re children.

    Urgh.

    Horrible.

    A walk through tunnel, this one was suitable for people of all heights and ages.

    A happy little octopus. I admit that I don’t know if he was happy, but he didn’t look unhappy, and I like to think that he was having a lovely time.

    A frog thing.

    A chameleon.

     

      

    And lots more fish and other associated items.

    It’s quite an expensive aquarium to get in, and irritatingly for some visitors, they might go to the on-site cafe afterwards and then be given a discount voucher. Not a great deal of use at that point…. I got in free with my heritage card, but I’m not sure that I would have paid the full price.

    There was also one of those photographers standing by the entrance, who I had to rush by whilst not looking rude, with some exorbitant price charged at the end for those who wanted to keep their photo. I thought that attractions were doing away with this now, or letting visitors have the photo for free. It doesn’t give a great welcome in my view, for what that’s worth…

    It’s not that big an attraction either, I think I was in there for under an hour, although I was distracted reading something in the Guardian for some of that time. It was busier than I thought it’d be, although by no means packed, but it is perhaps rather more busy during the summer months.

  • Malta (Northern Region) – Mellieha – Our Lady of the Grotto

    Near to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa is this stone gate, which is the entrance to a church located in an ancient grotto.

    The steps down, and I wondered what I was walking down into…..

    These are the final set of steps which go into the chapel. It is said that the Virgin is able to heal children, so some people leave children’s clothes and letters in the hope that they can be cured of their illness.

    Light comes in from this large skylight, although the lighting in the grotto is still mostly from candles. Although it’s a natural cave, it has been turned into this church by cutting into the limestone.

    Sitting in a pool of naturally flowing water, the statue of the Madonna holding the baby Jesus. There were reports in 1887, 1888 and 1948 that the statue was seen moving her right hand in the shape of a cross, and the site has long been a destination for pilgrims.

    Graffiti marked into the stone near to the entrance, dating back to 1834 (unless someone more recently just etched in an incorrect date).

    There are numerous, mostly damaged, statues in the niches around the church.

  • Malta (Northern Region) – St. Paul’s Bay

    Just a random photo from my balcony at the hotel, some interesting colours in the evening light…..

  • Malta (Northern Region) – Roman Apiary (Xemxija)

    I confess to not being an expert in Roman history, but I’m never heard of a Roman apiary being a thing to look out for. I never really gave much thought to whether the Roman kept bees, but it appears that they did and they kept them here. This is also, so I’ve read in numerous places, the best example of a Roman apiary in the world (although there’s at least one other in Malta, so it’s not unique), so at least I’ve been introduced to the subject matter in style.

    The bees were kept in the holes and there was access behind the holes for people to, well, tend the bees or whatever it is they do. I decided not to investigate in these tunnels as they weren’t that high and more importantly, it looked too scary.

  • Malta (Northern Region) – Cave of the Galley (Xemxija)

    This is a troglodyte dwelling which was used until relatively recently as living accommodation. It was though originally a prehistoric tomb which was repurposed over the centuries, and it’s tall enough to stand up easily in.

    There’s quite a substantial stone entrance which has been added at some time. Always good to give a positive first impression to any visitors.

    The name ‘cave of the galley’ is because of this carving into the stone on the door jamb, but a date can’t accurately be given. I like the thought that it has something to do with the country’s Great Siege, but it could have been pirates, shipwrecks or any other number of other things.

    Inside the cave.

    I noticed this crack in the wall so I thought that I’d end my cave exploration. I’d have been bloody irritated though if the cave had collapsed when I was in it after it had been there for over 3,000 years.

  • Malta (Northern Region) – A Little Walk

    I was pleased with myself on arriving into Malta, getting on the right bus and realising the bus stop was right by my hotel. Then I realised that I was two hours before the check-in time, so I stayed on the bus and thought I’d walk back. A bit of exploration is good for the soul.

    Anyway, whilst walking back down the side of a busy road with no pavement I started to regret this stupidity. But, things got better quickly, and I arrived back on the road that was marked on Google Maps. The road seemed to be quite a sizeable path and it ended up at the back of my hotel, so I went for that plan.

    After about 100 metres the lovely road turned into some rough and shoddy path. Although, intriguingly, it was unlike any path I’ve followed as some of it was built into the rock. And parts of it were very smooth, something that could only be achieved by centuries of people walking over it. At this stage, I wasn’t aware that I was walking along what was a Roman road and pilgrim’s route.

    And then the history started to unfold, the ruts along the Roman road, an ancient village, dry stone walls, standing stones, a Neolithic temple, a Punic tomb, a troglodyte cave, a Roman apiary, a pill-box, a medieval farmhouse and numerous other ancient structures. Which means that for a simple walk I have an enormous number of photos which are out of all proportion to the three miles I walked.

    There’s an episode of Time Team which was filmed at Llygadwy, which transpired to be a salted site. There was so much history within such a small space that it didn’t make sense, and Time Team uncovered an archaeological fraud. But here, the history is all authentic and it combined to be one of the most history packed walks that I’ve ever gone on.

    Below are photos of the walk before the history began (or, more accurately, before I realised it began), as I’ll post separately about those highlights….

  • Malta (Northern Region) – Pilgrim Crosses (Xemxija)

    On my heritage trail walk, more on which later, I noticed these crosses scratched into the wall. The big board sign above them also alerted me to their presence though if I’m being fair, and not just claiming to be particularly noticeable.

    Pilgrims used to walk this route, along the old Roman road, to Old Lady’s Sanctuary in Mellieħa, towards the north of Malta. I assume that the pilgrims had no idea that they walked by a Punic tomb on their route up the hill. In any event, the crosses were thought to have been marked by pilgrims after resting from walking up the hill.

  • Malta (Northern Region) – Punic Tomb (Xemxija)

    Located in Xemxija, this rather dangerous looking hole in the ground is one of the most interesting ancient monuments in Malta. It’s a Punic tomb and dates to around 500BC and is over two metres deep, with a link to a separate and covered burial chamber at the base.

    I obviously didn’t get in to have a little look in the hole of the burial chamber, but inside it is almost two metres wide, there’s a flat ceiling and a smooth floor. I know this as helpfully a sign has been placed up nearby giving these useful details.

    It’s a wonderful piece of history, although I suspect that in the UK it would have been fenced off. Especially as around 15 years ago this site was vandalised with paint and stones thrown in to try and block access to it. Fortunately, the museums service corrected the damage quickly, and pleasingly access to the site hasn’t been limited.