(FULLY BOOKED) Winter solstice – Mnajdra

Heritage Malta invites you to welcome the winter season with a difference, at one of its most picturesque sites – Mnajdra.

Join us early in the morning of Saturday 20th or Sunday 21st December to watch the sunrise from this unique Neolithic megalithic site. On this shortest day of the year, see how the south structure of the site, built during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, was expertly configured to have the first rays of the sun mark the first day of each season.

During sunrise, visitors will have the opportunity to experience the sun’s rays illuminating the very edge of a decorated megalith found to the right of the passage connecting the first pair of chambers to the inner chambers.

The community of the Neolithic period was an agricultural one, for whom the marking of the changing seasons was crucial. Without official calendars, such alignments might have been an effective way to mark the changing seasons. Being that most probably these megalithic structures were very important to the community, one cannot exclude the fact that the winter solstice was a time for gatherings and celebrations.

In a bid to provide an enhanced experience for visitors, Heritage Malta is offering limited places to experience this phenomenon. Interested parties can purchase their tickets from all Heritage Malta museums and sites, or online from Heritage Malta’s website here for the price of €35 per person and €25 for Heritage Malta members.

Participants will meet at the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Visitor Centre at 6.15am.

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