Buġibba Temple is a megalithic temple on the border of Buġibba and

Qawra Qawra (, ) is a zone within St. Paul's Bay in the Northern Region, Malta, Northern Region, Malta. Located close to Buġibba and Salina, Malta, Salina, it is a popular tourist resort, containing many hotels and restaurants. Around 1638, the Knigh ...

towns, limits of St. Paul's Bay,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. A hotel was built on the grounds of the temple.

Site

The temple is located a short distance from the coast, between Buġibba and

Point. It was built during the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory. The temple is quite small, and part of its coralline limestone façade can still be seen. From the trilithon entrance, a corridor leads to a central area which contains three apses. Part of the temple's floor has also survived at the back of the site. The rest of the structure was destroyed over the years, as the area was leveled due to being used for agricultural purposes.

Excavations and recent history

The Buġibba Temple was discovered by Maltese archaeologist Themistocles Zammit in 1925 when he discovered large stones in a field close to

Point. These remains were included on the Antiquities List of 1925, as "the megalithic remains on the side of the road to Qawra point". The temple was excavated in 1928 by Zammit and L. J. Upton Way, and was again surveyed in 1952. Two years later, in 1954, some minor excavations were made to ascertain the chronology of the temple. During the excavations, two decorated stone blocks were found. One is a carved square block that was an altar, and the other is a rectangular block with carved fish on two of its faces. These blocks are now in the National Museum of Archaeology in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. The temple's capstone was also replaced in modern times. Eventually, the Dolmen Resort Hotel was built around the temple, which was incorporated into the grounds of the hotel close to its swimming pools.

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bugibba Temple Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd millennium BC Megalithic Temples of Malta Neolithic sites National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Buildings and structures in St. Paul's Bay 1925 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Malta