Why this ride
80 km from Valletta to Valletta, about 2 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Megalithic Temples of Malta, Ġgantija Temples and back through Megalithic Temples of Malta.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Valletta afternoon · Ġgantija Temples
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 80 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 26
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Valletta
Valletta is smaller than most people expect, a city on a peninsula, built on a grid and finished almost in one go. It is named for Jean de Valette, the Grand Master of the Knights of St John, who led the defence of Malta during the Great Siege of 1565, when an Ottoman fleet landed and fought for months before withdrawing. Afterwards the Knights decided to build a new fortified capital on the bare ridge between two deep harbours, and construction began in 1566. The streets run straight, sloping down to the water in steps, and bastions rise from the sea. The whole city is on the UNESCO list, and it was a European Capital of Culture in 2018.
Read the complete Valletta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valletta is where the day begins. Next is Megalithic Temples of Malta.
2. Megalithic Temples of Malta
Before there were pyramids in Egypt, or Stonehenge on its plain, people on a small Mediterranean island were building enormous stone temples, and some of them are still standing. The group at Ġgantija, on the island of Gozo, goes back to roughly 3600 BC, which makes it among the oldest free-standing monuments in the world. The walls are made of huge limestone blocks, some weighing several tonnes, and they curve into rounded chambers like the lobes of a clover leaf. Local legend said they were built by a giantess, and the name comes from the word for giant.
Read the complete Megalithic Temples of Malta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Megalithic Temples of Malta comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ġgantija Temples.
3. Ġgantija Temples
On the island of Gozo, the smaller sister of Malta, there stands a pair of temples that are older than the pyramids of Egypt and older than Stonehenge. The Ġgantija temples were built between about 3600 and 3200 BC, and the name comes from the Maltese word for giant, since islanders long believed that only a race of giants could have lifted such enormous stones. Local legend adds a giantess who carried the blocks on her head while nursing a baby, and who lived on a diet of broad beans. Some of the standing stones are over five metres tall, and the outer walls are made of massive pieces of coralline limestone, while the inner walls are finer-grained globigerina stone.
Read the complete Ġgantija Temples write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Ġgantija Temples. Next is back through Megalithic Temples of Malta.
4. back through Megalithic Temples of Malta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Megalithic Temples of Malta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Megalithic Temples of Malta, late in the day. Next is Valletta.
5. Valletta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valletta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Valletta. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Valletta to Megalithic Temples of Malta
Valletta → Megalithic Temples of Malta is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Megalithic Temples of Malta to Valletta
back through Megalithic Temples of Malta → Valletta is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.