Heritage Malta is organising guided tours of the Mnajdra Temples on Sunday, the 20th and Monday, the 21st of December, to mark the winter solstice.

The unique setting of the Mnajdra Temples at Qrendi, overlooking the coast, gives them a special charm not to be found in any other of the large-scale megalithic buildings of the Maltese Islands.

In a bid to provide an enhanced experience to visitors, only 40 people will be allowed access to the temples.

Sunrise on the first day of each season underlines the relationship between the temples and celestial bodies. Although it is not known for certain whether these orientations were intentional, they are so systematic that this is very probable. In prehistoric agricultural societies, observation of the motion of the stars, the moon and sun could have been related to the changing seasons and times of planting and harvesting crops.

On these days the first rays of the sun light up the edge of a megalith found to the right of the central doorway connecting the first pair of chamber to the inner chamber of the Lower Mnajdra Temple.

A limited number of tickets are available selling for Euro 15 for the general public and Euros 10 for Heritage Malta members and are strictly on a first come first served basis. Interested parties are to purchase their tickets from any Heritage Malta site as well as the Heritage Malta Head Office in Merchants Street, Valletta.

Participants are to meet near the Hagar Qim Temple at 6.15am.

For further information on activities organised by Heritage Malta please visit our web site: www.heritagemalta.org.

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