Museums and Heritage Sites

TARXIEN TEMPLES

This site consists of four disparate temple units. The earliest one, of smaller size and quite separate from the others, was built in the Ggantija Phase and has the typical five-apsed plan. A common outer wall joins the other three.

The last unit to be erected is the middle one, which was wedged in between the other two, thus affecting much of their symmetry. It is the only example of an extremely advanced temple plan, with three pairs of apses symmetrically disposed along axes that conduct the visitor from the entrance to the niche at the rear end. Architecturally, it is marked by a high level of refinement, both from a technical and aesthetic point of view. This site is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.