Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
The place: Paola, on the Mediterranean island of Malta. The year: 1902. Construction laborers digging a well for a new residential block suddenly fell through the ground they were digging in - they had broken through the ceiling of an immense underground temple complex. The site was later named the "Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni"; "Hypogeum" being Latin for "undergound building" and Hal Saflieni being the street beneath which it was discovered.
The Hypogeum seems to have been built around 3000 BCE by the neolithic inhabitants of Malta. Little is known about these people, and only a bit more is known about the structure's purpose itself; it seems to have doubled as both a temple and necropolis - the bodies of 6,000 to 7,000 people - most of them children - have been found inside, along with statues of very large (tact) women, which suggests that this was the center of a fertility cult.
The structure consists of three floors of dozens of chambers. Highlights include grand galleries, trilithons (three-stone doorways - think Stonehenge) and the Oracle Room. The latter is a long room, into the wall of which is carved a square niche. The niche is carved in such a way that when a male with a deep voice (higher-pitched female voices seem to have no effect) speaks into it, the voice resounds throughout all the chambers in the complex from no immediately apparent source - it's a good bet the High Priest was able to summon the Voice of God in this manner. Much of the Hypogeum is decorated with spiral designs painted in red ochre, and much of the structure's design and stonework make it clear that the Hypogeum was meant to imitate the above ground temples found scattered across Malta.
The place is spectacular and looks like something out of a Tomb Raider game...
The place receives visitors and tours are conducted every hour.
Immense temple complexes, especially subterranean ones, are typically bound to have some wild legendry attached to them, and the Hypogeum is no exception. Rumor has it that a school teacher and 30 children, along with their guide, vanished while exploring the deepest chambers of the Hypogeum. According to the hype, the government declared that one of the chambers "collapsed" and killed them, and the Hypogeum was sealed off. This incident is allegedly mentioned in the August, 1940 issue of National Geographic (I've placed a reservation on this issue at the Cleveland Public Library and I will be checking the validity of this claim when the issue gets to the library this Monday). It was said that, despite the "government excuse", the screaming of children could be heard underground at various points all over Malta. Another story circulates, that of a woman who claims to have examined one of the "burial niches" at the lowest chamber of the complex (a reluctant guide allowed her to enter only "at her own risk")...
She crawled into the niche, which led to a longish low passageway, and allegedly emerged on a ledge on the side of an apparently bottomless cavern. She supposedly observed strange creatures emerge from a door on a ledge on the other side of this rift, who summoned a "wind" that nearly knocked her off the ledge and sent her scampering back to the Hypogeum. These stories are doubtful, considering the fact that the Hypogeum's chambers and niches are all mapped - or are they? Whatever the validity, several decidedly woo-woo sites include the Hypogeum in their lists of underground "Satanic/Monsters/Aliens/They" sites, using the stories as justification. Some of the sites have arbitrarily decided that the "creatures" the woman allegedly observed are reptilian aliens.
An excellent 3D map of the Hypogeum can be found here. All the little red arrows on the diagram are clickable and represent photographs you can view, with the arrows indicating the direction of the camera.
If you ever go to Malta, you'll want to check this place out. Book it though, the tours are of controlled attendance and the waiting time can be a week. If you decide to bring your children, you may want to keep a very close eye on them...
The Hypogeum seems to have been built around 3000 BCE by the neolithic inhabitants of Malta. Little is known about these people, and only a bit more is known about the structure's purpose itself; it seems to have doubled as both a temple and necropolis - the bodies of 6,000 to 7,000 people - most of them children - have been found inside, along with statues of very large (tact) women, which suggests that this was the center of a fertility cult.
The structure consists of three floors of dozens of chambers. Highlights include grand galleries, trilithons (three-stone doorways - think Stonehenge) and the Oracle Room. The latter is a long room, into the wall of which is carved a square niche. The niche is carved in such a way that when a male with a deep voice (higher-pitched female voices seem to have no effect) speaks into it, the voice resounds throughout all the chambers in the complex from no immediately apparent source - it's a good bet the High Priest was able to summon the Voice of God in this manner. Much of the Hypogeum is decorated with spiral designs painted in red ochre, and much of the structure's design and stonework make it clear that the Hypogeum was meant to imitate the above ground temples found scattered across Malta.
The place is spectacular and looks like something out of a Tomb Raider game...
The place receives visitors and tours are conducted every hour.
Immense temple complexes, especially subterranean ones, are typically bound to have some wild legendry attached to them, and the Hypogeum is no exception. Rumor has it that a school teacher and 30 children, along with their guide, vanished while exploring the deepest chambers of the Hypogeum. According to the hype, the government declared that one of the chambers "collapsed" and killed them, and the Hypogeum was sealed off. This incident is allegedly mentioned in the August, 1940 issue of National Geographic (I've placed a reservation on this issue at the Cleveland Public Library and I will be checking the validity of this claim when the issue gets to the library this Monday). It was said that, despite the "government excuse", the screaming of children could be heard underground at various points all over Malta. Another story circulates, that of a woman who claims to have examined one of the "burial niches" at the lowest chamber of the complex (a reluctant guide allowed her to enter only "at her own risk")...
She crawled into the niche, which led to a longish low passageway, and allegedly emerged on a ledge on the side of an apparently bottomless cavern. She supposedly observed strange creatures emerge from a door on a ledge on the other side of this rift, who summoned a "wind" that nearly knocked her off the ledge and sent her scampering back to the Hypogeum. These stories are doubtful, considering the fact that the Hypogeum's chambers and niches are all mapped - or are they? Whatever the validity, several decidedly woo-woo sites include the Hypogeum in their lists of underground "Satanic/Monsters/Aliens/They" sites, using the stories as justification. Some of the sites have arbitrarily decided that the "creatures" the woman allegedly observed are reptilian aliens.
An excellent 3D map of the Hypogeum can be found here. All the little red arrows on the diagram are clickable and represent photographs you can view, with the arrows indicating the direction of the camera.
If you ever go to Malta, you'll want to check this place out. Book it though, the tours are of controlled attendance and the waiting time can be a week. If you decide to bring your children, you may want to keep a very close eye on them...
