Ancient site · Temple
Ġgantija temples
Ġgantija, on the island of Gozo, is the oldest of the Megalithic Temples of Malta. Its two temples, built around 3600 BCE from enormous limestone blocks, are older than Egypt's pyramids and among the oldest free-standing stone buildings in the world.
Their name means 'place of giants', from a local legend that a giantess built them. Figurines found inside suggest religious rituals. Malta's temple-building culture ended around 2500 BCE.
- Dates
- c. 3600–2500 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 36.05° N, 14.27° E
How we know
No writing existed; the temples are dated by pottery phases and radiocarbon.
Nearby sites
- Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum c. 4000–2500 BCE
- Carthage founded c. 814 BCE (traditional date); destroyed 146 BCE; Roman city to 698 CE
- Pompeii 7th–6th century BCE – 79 CE
- Su Nuraxi di Barumini tower 17th–13th century BCE; village to the 6th century BCE
- Colosseum 72–80 CE; games until the 6th century
- Pantheon, Rome c. 126 CE; a church since 609
Related
- Maltese temple culture archaeological culture