Malta

6AM Sailing in to the Grand Harbor of Valleta, Malta, with Fort St Elmo on the right

First thing on shore that morning we traveled to a site called Hagar Qim Temples, a neolithic religious complex of megaliths dating back to 6,500 BC.  One of the limestone components weighs over 20 tons.  Learn more here.

Complex as it appears today under a canopy

View to a nearby island

As it appeared before the canopy (Photo by ERWEH)

The local soft limestone has deteriorated badly over the millenia.

Back in town, Shannon and I explored the orderly baroque layout of Valleta and the museum of antiquities housed in the Auberge de Provence, the historical headquarters of the Knights of Malta.