The Ħaġar Qim Temple

Photo by Michael Gunther,distributed under a CC license.

The meaning of the words Ħaġar Qim  stand for Stones and Worship. Ħaġar Qim is located on the southern edge of the island of Malta and is estimated to date back to approximately 3600 – 3200 BC.

It was initially excavated back in 1839. An interesting fact is that Ħaġar Qim was never completely buried, as a matter of fact some of the tallest stone features of the temple can be verified through paintings dating back to the 19th and even the 18th century.

Probably one of the most fascinating aspects of Ħaġar Qim is the fact that in one of its chambers there is an elliptical hole which is hewn out in alignment with the Summer Solstice sunrise. At sunrise, on the first day of summer, the sun’s rays pass through this hole and illuminate a stone slab inside the chamber.

In 1992 UNESCO recognized Ħaġar Qim and four other Maltese megalithic structures as World Heritage Sites.