Il-Maqluba
Il-Maqluba (meaning ''overturned '' or ''upside-down'' in Maltese) is a sinkhole with a surface area of around situated in the village of Qrendi in Malta. Il-Maqluba is a Special Area of Conservation – Candidate Site of International Importance and designated as a Tree Protection Area, forming part of Natura 2000 sites, a network of nature protection areas within the European Union, also earning the European Destination of Excellence title bestowed onto the locality by the European Union's Commission for Tourism. Visitors are forbidden to venture down to the bottom-most level of the sinkhole, but can admire the sinkhole from a viewing belvedere midway into the Maqluba. Geological formation Like all sinkholes, this cavity was formed by the collapse of a limestone floor situated above a cavity hollowed out by water flowing in a karstic relief. The diameter is around 50m, and the depth is around 15m, the area approximately and the perimeter 300m. It is composed of blue cla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Filfla
Filfla is a small, mostly barren, uninhabited islet south of Malta, and is the most southerly point of the Maltese Archipelago. ''filflu'' (or ''filfluu''), a small rocky islet some southwest of Filfla,"Topography and Flora of the Satellite islets surrounding the Maltese Archipelago" - Arnold Sciberras, Jeffrey Sciberras, 2010 has the southernmost point of Malta. The name is believed to come from ''felfel'', the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Qrendi
Qrendi ( mt, Il-Qrendi) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2752 people as of March 2014. It is located close to Mqabba, Żurrieq and Siggiewi. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim. In this village two feasts are held annually. The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated either on the last Sunday of June or on the first Sunday of July, with 15 August the titular feast of the Ascension of Our Lady. This feast is popularly known as the feast of Santa Maria. Although the majority of the village's old core buildings remain today, Qrendi has changed considerably in recent times. A bypass road has been built to divert through-traffic away from the village, modern suburb developments has been built and an open space with a bus terminus being created in front of the Parish Church by removing the walled grounds from an old villa. History Fossilized remains of animals dating back to the Quaternary ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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St Matthew's Chapel (Iż-Żgħir)
The Chapel of St Matthew, popularly known as San Mattew Iż-Żgħir, literally meaning Saint Matthew the smaller, is a small medieval chapel located beside a larger church with the same name in an area known as '' il-Maqluba'' in Qrendi, Malta. The use of the word the smaller is used that one would not confuse it with the larger St Matthew's church. History Origins and legend The chapel of St Matthew has been in existence since at least the 14th century, probably dating back to the 11th century. It is mentioned in a local legend said to have occurred in 1343. There are various versions of this legend however one of these versions says that all the people of the small village beside the chapel were living in sin and one day the whole village was consumed by the earth where a large pit was formed in place. The only building to escape this tragedy was the chapel of St Matthew in which an old pious woman was at the moment of the engulfment. However, most probably this large pit, a s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tetraclinis Articulata
''Tetraclinis'' (also called arar, araar or Sictus tree) is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, ''Tetraclinis articulata'', also known as Thuja articulata,Memidex: sandarac (wood) Retrieved 2012-05-16 sandarac, sandarac tree or Barbary thuja, to the western . It is native to northwestern Africa in the of [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geography Of Malta
The geography of Malta is dominated by water. Malta is an archipelago of coralline limestone, located in the Mediterranean Sea, 81 kilometres south of Sicily, Italy,From Żebbuġ in Malta, coordinates: 36°04'48.2"N 14°15'06.7"E to Cava d'Aliga (Scicli) in Italy, coordinates: 36°43'22.5"N 14°41'10.9"E – Google Maps and nearly 300 km north (Libya) and northeast (Tunisia) of Africa. Although Malta is situated in Southern Europe, it is located farther south than Tunis, capital of Tunisia, Algiers, capital of Algeria, Tangier in Morocco and also Aleppo in Syria, and Mosul in Iraq in the Middle East. Only the three largest islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino – are inhabited. Other (uninhabited) islands are: Cominotto, Filfla and the St.Paul's Islands. The country is approximately 316 km2 (122 sq mi) in area. Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide harbours. The landscape of the islands is characterised by high hills with terraced fields. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Monticola Solitarius
The blue rock thrush (''Monticola solitarius'') is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta (the word for it in Maltese being ''Merill'') and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency. Taxonomy The blue rock thrush was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Turdus solitarius''. The scientific name is from Latin. ''Monticola'' is from ''mons, montis'' "mountain", and ''colere'', "to dwell", and the specific epithet ''solitarius'' means "solitary".. The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the species in the genus are more closely related to members of the Old World fl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Blue Rock Thrush
The blue rock thrush (''Monticola solitarius'') is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta (the word for it in Maltese being ''Merill'') and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency. Taxonomy The blue rock thrush was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Turdus solitarius''. The scientific name is from Latin. ''Monticola'' is from ''mons, montis'' "mountain", and ''colere'', "to dwell", and the specific epithet ''solitarius'' means "solitary".. The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the species in the genus are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Salsola Melitensis
''Salsola melitensis'' is an endemic vascular plant of the Maltese archipelago. Its generic name is derived from the Latin word “salsus” which means salty, attributing to the salt tolerant nature of the species within this genus. The genus name was published in 1753 in the Species Plantarum composed by Carl Linnaeus but was reclassified again by Akhani et al. in 2007. Classification The Maltese Salt Tree (MT: ''Xebb / Siġra tal-Irmied'') is scientifically known as ''Salsola melitensis Botsch.'', or its synonym ''Darniella melitensis (Botsch.) Brullo.'' Work towards the identification and classification of ''Salsola melitensis'' began in around 1970 when Lanfranco and Brullo confirmed that ''Salsola vermiculata'' (now ''Caroxylon vermiculatum'') did not occur in Malta, contrary to what was so far reported, since Maltese specimens of purported ''S. vermiculata'' did not correspond to any existing taxonomic description at the time. ''S. melitensis'' was eventually classified b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Salsola
''Salsola'' is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus ''sensu stricto'' is distributed in central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. A common name of various members of this genus and related genera is saltwort, for their salt tolerance. The genus name ''Salsola'' is from the Latin ''salsus'', meaning "salty". Description The species of ''Salsola'' are mostly subshrubs, shrubs, small trees, and rarely annuals. The leaves are mostly alternate, rarely opposite, simple, and entire. The bisexual flowers have five tepals and five stamens. The pistil ends in two stigmata. The fruit is spherical with a spiral embryo and no perisperm. Systematics The genus name ''Salsola'' was first published in 1753 by Linnaeus in ''Species Plantarum''. The type species is ''Salsola soda'' L. The genus ''Salsola'' belongs to the tribe Salsoleae ''s.s.'' of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was recircumscrib ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively. The network includes both terrestrial and Marine Protected Areas. History In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. The Habitats Directive complements the Birds Directive adopted earlier in 1979 and together they make up the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. The Birds Directive requires the establishment of Special Protection Areas for birds. The Habitats Directive similarly requires Sites of Community Importance which upon the agreement of the European Commission become Special Areas of Conservation to be designated for species other than birds, and for habitat types (e.g. particular types of forest, grassland ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Laurus Nobilis
''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. Its common names include bay tree (esp. United Kingdom), bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, Grecian laurel, or simply laurel. ''Laurus nobilis'' figures prominently in classical Greco-Roman culture. Worldwide, many other kinds of plants in diverse families are also called "bay" or "laurel", generally due to similarity of foliage or aroma to ''Laurus nobilis''. Description The laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree, variable in size and sometimes reaching tall. The genus ''Laurus'' includes four accepted species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap. The bay laurel is dioecious (unisexual), with male and female flowers on separate plants. Each flower is pale yellow-green, about diameter, and they are borne in pairs besid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies south of Sicily (Italy), east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language. Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. With a population of about 516,000 over an area of , Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated sovereign cou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |