Why this ride
82 km from Fgura to Fgura, about 2 h 28 of riding. It goes by way of Skorba, Megalithic Temples of Malta and back through Skorba. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and Megalithic Temples of Malta
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 82 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 28
- 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. Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
Beneath a quiet residential street in Paola, a few kilometres south of Valletta, there is a labyrinth carved into the rock about five thousand years ago. The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum is a prehistoric underground sanctuary and burial complex, cut by hand with stone and antler tools into the soft limestone on three levels, with chambers, passages and niches that descend to about ten metres. It was in use from around 3300 BC to 3000 BC, and the remains of thousands of people were found in it when workmen broke into it by accident in 1902, while digging a cistern.
Read the complete Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum is where the day begins. Next is Skorba.
2. Skorba
Under a field near the village of Mġarr, in the north-west of Malta, lie the layers of a farming settlement that is older than the island's famous temples. Skorba was excavated in the 1960s by the archaeologist David Trump, who found the remains of houses from about 4500 BC, built by the island's first farmers, and above them the foundations of two small temples from the later centuries, when Malta's builders began to put up great buildings of stone. It is part of the group of Megalithic Temples of Malta that UNESCO lists as among the oldest free-standing monuments in the world.
Read the complete Skorba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Skorba comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Megalithic Temples of Malta.
3. 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
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Megalithic Temples of Malta. Next is back through Skorba.
4. back through Skorba
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Skorba write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Skorba, late in the day. Next is Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum.
5. Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum to Skorba
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum → Skorba is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Skorba to Megalithic Temples of Malta
Skorba → Megalithic Temples of Malta is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Megalithic Temples of Malta to back through Skorba
Megalithic Temples of Malta → back through Skorba is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Skorba to Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
back through Skorba → Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.