"Mnajdra Temples" a Mnajdra Travel Page by Trillian2005

...a hollow in the cliffs on Malta’s southern coast. The site is probably the most atmospheric of all Malta’s temples. It is located in an isolated position on a rugged stretch of coast overlooking the islet of Filfla and just 500 m from another principal temple site, Hagar Qim. The surrounding area is a Heritage Park and is typical of rugged Mediterranean garigue landscape.

Mnajdra is a complex site consisting of three temples overlooking an oval court. The first and oldest temple is a simple three-apsed building and dates back to the Ggantija phase (3600 - 3200 B.C.).

The most impressive of the Mnajdra temples is the third, with its largely intact façade and bench constructed in the early Tarxien phase (3150 – 2500 B.C.). This temple is perhaps the finest on the islands.

The lower temple has a particular astronomical alignment. At the vernal (March 22) and on the autumnal (September 22) equinox, the rays of the sun pass directly through the temple’s main doorway and light up the main axis. At the summer solstice (June 22) the rays of the sun light up the edge of a megalith to the left of the doorway, connecting the first pair of chambers to the inner chambers. At the winter solstice (December 21), the same effect can be seen on the corresponding megalith on the right hand side. Now how cool is that?