Malta: an island of temples and tombs

Despite its small size, Malta boasts a rich and diverse history, making it just as famous for its numerous sites of archaeological importance as for its stunning beaches and picturesque villages.

But, while most travellers know all about the Knights of Malta and the Mediterranean island during Napoleonic times, relatively few appreciate that its history actually goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years - with some of the most fascinating tombs and temples dating back to around the fourth millennium BC.

Malta’s compactness, allied with the fact that most of the main historical attractions are within easy distance of some of the island’s best hotels and resorts, makes it more than possible for history-lovers enjoying cheap Malta holidays to embark on a chronological tour of the island - seeing how it grew from being home to a few isolated prehistoric tribes to becoming a site of major strategic importance, contested by rival powers.

For starters, the temple complex at Ggantija, just a short distance from bustling Gozo, offers a fascinating insight into what life was like on Malta back in the year 3,500BC. Widely acknowledged as being some of the oldest free-standing structures in the whole world - indeed, the stone temples are older than the pyramids of Egypt - experts believe that this part of the island was dedicated to a fertility cult, with a number of figurines and statues found in and around the complex pointing to this interpretation. These discoveries can today be viewed in Gozo’s museums.

Moving on through the ages, the town of Rabat is home to the famous Catacombs of St Paul, used in the times of the Romans to bury the dead. According to many historians of Christianity, St Paul himself stayed in the caves for around three months when he was shipwrecked on Malta back in the year 60AD. Again, inquisitive tourists can learn more about these ancient tombs in the museums of Rabat.

Located in the very centre of Malta, the walled town of Mdina is arguably the best place for gaining an insight into the history of the island in the Middle Ages. The Norman architecture of the time is on display in the town’s historic churches, while the fortifications that surround modern-day Mdina illustrate just how fiercely the island was contested - first by Muslims and Christians and then, later on, by the Kingdom of Sicily and the House of Hohenstaufen, in what is now Germany.

In the heart of Mdina lies St Paul’s Cathedral, a magnificent example of Baroque grandeur and a building that played a central role in the story of the Knights of Malta. Aided by the island’s native residents, the knights succeeded in keeping Malta out of the Ottoman Empire’s hands, though they eventually found themselves ousted when Napoleon took the island on his way to Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars.

For history-lovers keen to learn more about the role the island played in the Second World War, the city of Valletta is a must-see. Largely destroyed in what became known as the Siege of Malta, the Unesco World Heritage Site old town is home to the National War Museum, where visitors can take a stroll through the history of the island in the last century.

Click here for more information on enjoying a break to historic Malta.