Pomskizillious!

Today, we were scheduled to head back to the mainland, but I was really interested to see the Ġgantija Temples (Maltese for Giants' grotto) which were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.  We headed to the town of Xaghra which was only about 15 minutes by bus.

We got off at the center of town and made our way towards the temples.  We spied a sign for Ninu's Cave and decided to check it out.  There was a sign at the private residence saying they were open and to ring the door bell.  We did, and immediately a friendly older gentleman opened the door and beckoned us to come in.  We said we would like to see the cave.  "Sure!" He exclaimed.  He led us through his festively decorated living room, to the kitchen and showed us a flight of stairs leading down in to what would normally be the basement.

Thomas and I went down to this amazing underground cave.  We marveled at the sheer number of stalactites and stalagmites in such a small area and headed back up the stairs.  

The man told us the cave was discovered in 1888 when the homeowner at the time, Joseph Rapa, was digging for a water well.  I asked the man if I owed him any money and he said he takes donations, so I gave him a few euros and off we went.

This museum looked pretty cool, but it was closed.  Apparently, "pomskizillious" is a word made up by the famous illustrator, Edward Lear, to describe the coastal landscape of Gozo during his visit in the mid-nineteenth century.

We finally made it over to two prehistoric Ġgantija Temples. One of them is oldest known stone structure in the world, and second-oldest religious structure, estimated to be about 5,800 years old (built during the Neolithic Age circa 3600 - 3000BC)  predating Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza by hundreds of years.  The site's existence was known about in the late 18th century, but it was Col.John Otto Bayer, Lieutenant Governor of Gozo, who had the area cleared of debris in 1827.

Inside the ancient temples.

Some really old graffiti.

Inside the temple.

The temples were dedicated to the Great Mother Earth, a goddess of fertility, as evidenced by the temples' round shape and the statues of full-figured goddesses.Evidence also indicates there was an oracle here, as the much-later Temple of Apollo at Delphi.  A priestess prophesied while in a trance, possessed by the spirit of the goddess.  The site was a place of pilgrimage for the ancient inhabitants of Malta and from as far away as North Africa and Sicily, to pray for healing.  According to an ancient legend, the temple walls were built in one day and one night by a female giant named Sunsuna, who did it while nursing a baby.

View from the front of the temples.

A view from behind the ancient temple.

Another viewpoint.

And one more.

Floor plan of the temple.

Our admission tickets also included a visit to the Ta'Kola Windmill just a few blocks away, so we headed over to it.  It was originally built in 1725, but it sustained some kind of damage in 2008, so extensive renovations were being done on it during our visit.

We finally headed back to the ferry for a mere 5 euro return trip to the mainland.  During our hour-long bus ride over to Sliema where we would be staying for the duration of our trip, I spied an abandoned building in the distance with a huge Chief Wahoo painted on the side!  What?!  For those of you who don't know, Chief Wahoo is the mascot for the Cleveland Indians major league baseball team.  Talk about random!  I managed to snap a quick picture of it before we passed by. 

Chief Wahoo in Malta?!