Ghar-Dalam

• Address: Triq Ghar Dalam, Birzebbuga
• Phone: + (356 2) 165 74 19
• Official website: www.heritagemalta.org

It is impossible to imagine a holiday in Malta without visiting the cave Ghar-Dalam, because this is the visiting card of the island state of Malta.

The unique cave of Ghar-Dalam (Għar Dalam or "cave of darkness") is located in the south of the country. The cave was discovered at the end of the XIX century and since then has been under the close attention of archaeologists and scientists from all over the world, because. It was here that the remains of such interesting animals were discovered: a dwarf hippo that disappeared from the face of the earth about 180 thousand years ago, a pygmy deer that died out much later - about 18 thousand years ago, as well as traces of a man who lived about 7,500 thousand years ago.

It is interesting!

The first scientific research was conducted in 1885. The cave suffered a lot of tests: it served as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War, and after the discovery of the cave as a museum in the late 20th century, valuable exhibits were stolen from here (the remains of a dwarfish elephant and the skull of a child, born in the Neolithic era), the rarest finds and remains of animals were destroyed by vandals.

To date, scientists have known and studied 6 layers:

1. The first layer (about 74 cm) is the so-called layer of domestic animals. Here were found the remains of cows, goats, horses and sheep, as well as tools for hunting and labor of ancient people, jewelry, fragments of human bodies.
2. The second layer (06 m) is a limestone layer.
3. A wide layer of deer (175 cm) was found behind the limestone layer. Here, in addition to deer, the remains of bears, foxes and other animals are found.
4. The fourth layer is of little interest to scientists and tourists. it is a layer of ordinary pebbles (about 35 cm).
5. The pearl of Ghar Dalama is the fifth layer - a 120-centimeter layer of hippos, where a dwarf elephant and giant dormouse were also found)
6. The last sixth layer is a clay layer without bones (125 cm), on which only plant prints are found.

The depth of the cave is about 144 m, but only 50 m can be seen for visitors. In addition to the cave, the tourist can visit the museum, which presents a lot of interesting exhibits.

How to get there and when to visit?

You can get to the cave with the help of public transport , for example, by bus routes №82, №85, №210, following from Birzebbuji and Marsaslok. Visit the cave museum can be daily from 9.00 to 17.00. The entrance fee for an adult is 5 euros, and students, pensioners and children from 12 to 17 years old can visit the best museum in Malta for 3 euros. For children from 6 to 11 years, the ticket will cost 2.5 euros, kids up to 6 years old can go to the cave for free.