Ġgantija Solar Festival

The legend of Ġgantija and Sansuna will be dramatized for the first time in a light, sight and sound show at the temple site in Xaghra, Gozo. The Ggantija Solar Festival is being presented by Xaghra Mayor Joe Spiteri, the Xaghra local council and a number of sponsors. A press statement distributed by the organisers explains the legend of Ġgantija and Sansuna and provides logistic details about the festival which will have free entrance to all:

As the story goes, at the dawn of time, before written history, before Kings were born in stables, before nations, these Islands were one. The Maltese archipelago formed a mountain range the people called The Sacred Mountain of the Gods. They built sanctuaries to these gods, Temples and Stone Circles. One of the first to be completed on one of the highest plateaus was Ggantija.

Legends say that, in those early, dawn days, giants walked the land. Ġgantija, the Temple of the Giants, owes its magnificence to the strength of one in particular named Sansuna, a woman whose strength, it is said, came from a special diet of broad beans. She carried the huge stone boulders on her head up from the quarry to the temple site. They are some of the largest megalithic blocks used in construction of the temples.

This show tells her story, describes the creation of Ġgantija and reenacts the Solar Festival held there at the beginning of each growing season. For more information, visit the website: www.ggantija.com or email alive@ggantija.com or call 2155 0334. Many hotels in Gozo are offering special rates and discounts. Transportation and shuttle buses will be available for round trips from Mgarr Harbour and among the hotels and the temple site.