<< Our Photo Pages >> Hal Saflieni Hypogeum - Ancient Temple in Malta in Mainland
Submitted by enkidu41 on Saturday, 20 June 2015 Page Views: 33092
Multi-periodSite Name: Hal Saflieni Hypogeum Alternative Name: The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni, Hypogeum of Ħal-SaflieniCountry: Malta Island: Mainland Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Valletta Nearest Village: Paola
Latitude: 35.869719N Longitude: 14.506669E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
Catrinm would like to visit
htrismegistus visited on 1st Jan 2024 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 The feeling inside is that of a compressed structure for very short beings - unlike the structures on the surface. The fact that this location and others had essentially mud with mixed bones from various animals and humans is to me indicative that there was a massive flood that caused it. Was this an ancient bunker? The elongated skulls found in it were hidden at the Valletta archeological museum, but some brought out recently for an exhibition. Some of the skulls seem to be permanently hidden.
The chamber that resonates with a specific frequency was very impressive but I wish we had had a demonstration of the sound. Book ahead of time as the number of people inside is limited because of conservation efforts.
mlc visited on 1st Jul 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
ChristopherJones visited on 1st Oct 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Some red paintings on the roofs are still visible.
SolarMegalith visited on 23rd Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
lucy78green visited on 4th Dec 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
mona visited on 1st Sep 1983 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
Andy B caroline_munns Bjorn have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.83 Ambience: 4.83 Access: 4.5
Chambers have corbelled roofing and two have interior decoration of spirals and honeycomb cells rendered in red ochre, a feature no longer surviving above ground. The chamber at the centre of the site has elaborately carved trilithons, entrances to other chambers. The chambers have side chambers or niches in which the dead were placed. Around seven thousands skeletons have been found, far more than the chambers could accommodate at any one time as bodies and it is clear that the site was used for burials over many centuries.
Undoubtedly the central chambers were used for funeral rites and ceremonies where, in all probability, water from the cistern at the side of the Oracle Room played a part. The Oracle Room contains on its roof branching spiral designs painted in red ochre. To the side is the Oracle Hole opening into a small oval niche. This hole produces an extremely loud echoing sound when spoken into by someone with a deep voice.
The most important and most elaborately ornate room is the ‘Holy of Holies’, a Sanctum Sanctorum, entry to which is through a façade consisting of a portal slab under the centre of a lintel supported by four uprights. This in turn is framed within a larger trilithons and topped by another course of corbelling before the flat ceiling. But astonishingly these features are not built but sculpted with fine technique out of the living rock! In the floor of the chamber is a V-perforation, probably used for libation offerings, its opening closable with purpose-cut stone plugs.
The site is in the UNESCO World Heritage list. Access used to be strictly limited to 80 visitors a day and would be booked up weeks in advance. 2016 update: The Hypogeum is currently CLOSED to the public due to conservation project to create an environmental management system. More details at Heritage Malta.
Note: A series of 'semi official' photos of sites in Malta from the 1950s, sent in by Jonzjob, see his page for more.
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