The megalithic temples of Malta, which since 1980 are included in the list of protected cultural objects of UNESCO world heritage sites, are a fractured group of seven prehistoric sanctuaries, built with the help of huge stone boulders on the Islands of Malta and Gozo. Just within the boundaries of the Maltese archipelago rises more than twenty similar structures, which are one thousand years older than the Egyptian pyramid complex at Giza. All of them were created with the use of megaliths – huge stone blocks, partially or completely treated. The size of some of the stones reach eight meters in length and a weight of fifty tons. Like their more famous counterparts Machu Picchu in Peru and Stonehenge in the English County of Wiltshire, the temples were built in the same style without the use of any fastening solution.
Still remain unknown the explanation of such an unusual construction designs, each of which has its own unique history. Continue reading
Among other things to history, the Maltese archipelago is still world famous for the fact that the oldest man-made structures on Earth are located in these places. This is the megalithic temples. The man, who had never encountered such prehistoric monuments, often raises a number of questions: what kind of temples such as their, where, for what purpose were erected? Let’s start from the very beginning that there is a megalith in General?
In simple terms, is any religious building, built of huge semi-finished or rough boulders, among which are the dolmens (funerary box, covered with a massive flat slab), and menhirs (separately from each other standing stones) and cromlechs (circular fence).
Here are cromlechs megaliths. The best known among the cromlechs are considered to be in the world of Carnac (France) and Stonehenge (England) is, but the Maltese buildings are older, they also differ in “accuracy” — on the territory, comparable to a small European city located more than twenty temples. Continue reading
The culmination of the development of medieval European art is restrained mystical Gothic style, which replaced the lush extravagance of the Romanesque style. Bright mosaic stained glass Windows, soaring spires of the needles, the glow of gold, expression, a Symphony of harmonious combination of light, glass and stone – can be figuratively characterized the Gothic style in the interior. The term “Gothic” appeared in Sunny Italy during the Renaissance. So ironically the Romans called the primitive barbaric cultures of the passing into oblivion of the middle ages. First, the word “Gothic” was used in literature when the author wanted to somewhat ironic to denote in the text distorted Latin. Later Gothic became a definite architectural style, which in a nutshell can be called eerily majestic.
To reproduce in modern homes the Gothic style is not so easy, but its individual elements are often used when creating projects of country houses. Continue reading