Tarxien Temples

The Megalithic Temples of Malta (Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, Skorba, Ta’ Ħaġrat and Tarxien) are prehistoric monumental buildings constructed during the 4th and the 3rd millennium BC. They rank among the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world and are remarkable for their diversity of form and decoration. They were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

The Tarxien Temples are the most complex of all temple sites in Malta, consisting of four megalithic structures. The temples are renowned for the detail of their carvings, which include domestic animals carved in relief, altars, and screens decorated with spiral designs and other patterns. Of particular note is a chamber with a relief of two bulls and a sow. The site seems to have been used extensively for rituals, which probably involved animal sacrifice.

Tarxien also offers an insight into how the temples were constructed: stonerollers left outside the south temple were probably used for transporting the megaliths. Remains of cremation have been found at the center of the South temple, which indicates that the site was reused as a Bronze Age cremation cemetery.