Summer solstice in Malta's temples.

Mnajdra

Selected by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, the Maltese

prehistoric temples are a real treasure.

At the times of the winter and summer solstices they

provide a fascinating experience.

At dawn on the 21st june, the day with the longest

daylight period, sunlight passes through a hole

at Hagar Qim known as the'oracle hole.' which opens into

a chamber on the northeast side of the temple.

Here the sun's rays project a disc of light on a stone slab

at the entrance of the apse.As the minutes pass, the disc

becomes a crescent, then elongates into an elipse,

elongates even further and finally sinks out of sight

as though into the ground.

At Mnajdra, the first rays of the sun light up the edge of a megalith

to the left of the central doorway connecting the first

pair of chambers to the inner chambers.

 Mo.