Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

Photos taken from Heritage Malta brochure. No cameras allowed on the premises. — Rock cut imitation of architecture in the Main Hall

6000 year old underground cave paintings

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is the oldest underground burial site in Malta. At 6000 years old, it is considered older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids. Malta has many of these old structures but this Hypogeum is the only underground burial site. It is located in Paola, very near the Tarxien Temples I discussed in the previous blog.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, this is one of the “must see” prehistoric structures in Malta. More information is included in Day 5 of my book Return to Malta, available from Amazon.

Photos are taken from the Heritage Malta brochure. Cameras were not allowed inside the structure.

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances my book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos. The book is available through Amazon and other book stores.

Be sure to visit my other blog: annepflugcom.wordpress.com

Tarxien Temples

photo by Patricia Pflug

On my last trip to Malta, Thanks to my daughter in law who is interested in archeology, I visited areas in Malta that I had not visited before. I was very surprised at what I learned.

The Megalithic Temples in Malta are the oldest in the world. Would you believe, older than Stonehenge; older than the Pyramids. Yes! The Tarxien Temples are especially important to me because when I lived in Malta, as a child, I lived within walking distance to these temples and we used to play there, not realizing the importance of the structures. Only recently, in the last 50 years or so, have they been “discovered” and protected and enclosed with ramps added for clear viewing.

These prehistoric temples, and there are quite a few, were built during three distinct periods approximately between 3600BC and 700BC and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

One more reason to be proud of my Maltese heritage.

Be sure to visit my other blog: annepflugcom.wordpress.com

70 years apart

Baracca Gardens, Valletta, Malta 2019 70 years ago, as a child before we emigrated to the States, my mom and her friend took us to the Upper Barracca for a last view of one of Malta’s beautiful gardens.
70 years later, I took my son and his family to the same place. It’s amazing that not much has changed. the trees are bigger but the statues are still in the same place.

I’m the big kid. We were wearing grey flannel slacks, red sweaters and white blouses. We had no color photography in 1949.

Be sure to visit my other blog: annepflugcom.wordpress.com

A Different View of Sliema

photo by Anne Pflug — The Sliemofa few tourists see.

Sliema from a rooftop gives one a completely different view of Malta. Not much older architecture; no churches dominating the skyline but solar, air conditioning and construction cranes. This is the newer Sliema with continuous building for the tourist trade. I hope this is just a rare and not to become common view of Malta.

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances my book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos. The book is available through Amazon and other book stores.

Streets in Valletta

There are three qualities to the streets in Valletta. They are narrow. They are extremely hilly and they are surrounded by balconies. Notice that the balconies come in several styles. The closed ones are usually wood, painted in a variety of colors. the open one are metal and they display a variety of designs. The two balconies seen on the left are excellent examples of this variety. One is curved with a very delicate and lacy design; the other is angular and somewhat geometric. Traveling around Malta would give one many examples of these two styles. One thing they have in common; they are all beautiful!

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances my book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos. The book is available through Amazon and other book stores.

Be sure to visit my other blog: annepflugcom.wordpress.com

A golden Altar

Historically, Malta is a very Catholic country. This is a result of St. Paul’s shipwreck in Malta on his way to martyrdom in Rome. Every village in Malta has at least one church; some have more. All these churches, as in most of Europe, have been embellished with gold, some on the altars, others more so, on the walls and even ceilings.

The idea had been that churches are houses of God and God deserves the best, that is, gold. I remember, as a child, hearing about a new church being built and the congregation being asked to donate gold, for melting, to be used in church.

Actually, I even remember that happening in Brooklyn when a church was being built in the last century.

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances my book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos. The book is available through Amazon and other book stores.

Be sure to visit my other blog: annepflugcom.wordpress.com

On to Gozo

Gozo is a smaller island than Malta. It is considered a more relaxing place to go if you want to simply get away from it all. It is greener and more rural. One of the high points in a visit to Gozo, and my main interest, was The Citadel. Also known as the Castello, in Victoria, it has been inhabited since the Bronze Age.

The area on which the Citadel rests was originally believed to have been the acropolis of the Punic-Roman city of Gaulos. I’ve also read somewhere that it also was once a pagan temple to one of the Greek gods. A lot of history in this place. And, as happens with most of these ancient structures, it is now being refurbished, possibly to make it more tourist friendly.

We met a lot of tourists who could not make the climb in the hot weather we had that summer.

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances the book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos. The book is available through Amazon.

The Seven Story Street

Malta, the country where I was born, tends to be very hilly in some places. Case in point. The last time I was there, I spent time in a hotel in Mellieha. The Preluna Hotel and Spa occupied seven stories and all of them went out to the street. The street itself is made up of steps, seven stories worth and all the floors had an exit to the street. It had swimming pools on three levels, all street-side. At first it was very confusing and hard to imagine. Once we got used to it, it had advantages. No matter what floor you were on, you can walk out to the street on that level. This is not the only hilly street in Malta; the capital city, Valletta, a;so has its share. Walking around town becomes an exhausting experience.

This blog annevisitsmalta.com enhances the book Return to Malta by visiting most of the places mentioned in the book with color photos.

Valletta Harbor Cruise

In Malta, on a beautiful, sunny day, a Harbor Cruise fits the bill. The sea breezes kept us cool while we explored Valletta and the Three Cities from the water. On the left, you can see a cruise ship, dropping off tourists for a day exploring Malta. On the upper right is a good view of Upper Baracca. As always, the strong walls protecting the city are in full view.

If you enjoyed this, much more information is available in my published book: Return to Malta which can be purchased from Amazon.com

Time flies; Not much changes

around 1947, my sister, Mary, my nana and I on our roof

These two photos are taken 69 years apart. Both were taken on the roof of my house, when I lived in Malta. The first has myself, my sister and my nana and was taken in 1947; the other, is of myself and was taken in 2016. About the only change is me, quite a bit older. Houses in Malta seem to go on forever. Not much changes!

If you enjoyed this, much more information is available in my published book: Return to Malta which can be purchased from Amazon.com