Tarxien – Anne Visits Malta

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

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

Old Tiles

photo by Anne Pflug — Really old tiles still look great today.

In the living room of my home in Tarxien, we saw beautiful tiles that had been installed by my grandmother over 75 years ago. They were still lustrous, shiny and in terrific shape. I was surprised to see them, still looking great after all this time.

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

Memories of a WW II Shelter

Across the street from our home (see previous blog) is a patched up area enclosing a World war II shelter. This was the entrance to a catacomb-like construction, underground, with hollowed out rooms for the families to live in, during bombing. My sister chose to be born on one of these occasions. It was eerie to come back, so many years later and still see the remnants of the shelter.

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

My house in Malta

photo by Liza Burney — My sister and I standing in front of our house

While visiting in Tarxien, we had to go back to our home. We visited the lady of the house, whose mom purchased this beautiful house from our mom. The windows in back of us are of the living room. On the other side of the door was our bedroom. As a child, I sat on the stoop many times while my nana taught me to crochet and knit.

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