Cult places and rituals in Malta

Religion and cult beliefs in the Maltese islands had been established for millenniafrom the NeolithicAge. The great number of the megalithic temples all over the country testifiedof astrongand sharedreligious feelingup to the Bronze Age.At the beginning of the Iron Age and especially with the arrival of the Phoenicians, the echo of this feeling was still strong, as evidenced by the reuse of the Bronze Age megalithic temples of Tas-Silġ in southern Malta, Ras ir-Raħeb on the north-western coast of Malta and Ras il-Wardija on Gozo.The three sacred areas, notwithstanding their particularities and specific features, seem to share some other common issues, as the connectionwith the sea and the navigation and the relations to their agricultural hinterland.