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formed via the power of storm water runoff water which percolated through cracks and crevices. This gradual, yet constant, penetration created caverns which became larger with the passing of time thus producing a hollow that was eventually unable to support the overlying top layer, which eventually collapsed and created the doline that can be seen today.
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relief. The diameter is around 50m, and the depth is around 15m, the area approximately 4,765 square metres (51,290 sq ft) and the perimeter 300m. It is composed of blue clay and globigerina limestone that top the lower coralline limestone or żonqor. The area is a place of natural interest
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Under these trees other plants thrive such as the large-leafed nettle (ħurrieq) and the cleavers (ħarxajja komuni). On the sides of the
Maqluba many other flora species cling to the steep rocky flanks that enclose this depression. Thus one notices the Maltese salt tree (xebb), the ivy (liedna) and
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The spectacular formation is at the origin of numerous legends. One of them recounts that the place was inhabited by people who lived such dissolute lives that a neighbour warned them against their sinful ways, without them taking notice. God therefore wished to punish the sinners by engulfing the
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in Malta. Il-Maqluba is a
Special Area of Conservation – Candidate Site of International Importance and designated as a Tree Protection Area, forming part of Natura 2000 sites, a network of nature protection areas within the European Union, also earning the European Destination of Excellence title
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Dominant trees identified in this site include the laurel tree (siġra tar-rand) not too widely found in the
Maltese islands; the fig tree (siġra tat-tin), the pomegranate tree (siġra tar-rummien) the carob tree (siġra tal-ħarrub), the hawthorn (siġra tal-anżalor) along with reeds (qasab) and the
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The list of fauna identified in the
Maqluba is also interesting especially as some of these creatures are endemic to Malta, including a number of species of beetle, slug, types of rare ants, a rare woodlouse including the grey long-eared bats and free-tailed bats, known to inhabit this zone.
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One particular species that merits special mention is the sandarac gum tree (siġra tal-għargħar) which naturally occurs in North Africa, Southern Spain, and in Malta growing only at
Maqluba and Imġiebagħ and in the Mellieha area
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Visitors are forbidden to venture down to the bottom-most level of the sinkhole, but can admire the sinkhole from a viewing belvedere midway into the
Maqluba.
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the caper (kappara), but also the prickly pear (bajtra tax-xewk) and the omnipresent
Bermuda buttercup (ħaxixa Ingliża) along with many other plants.
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was built on the edge of the sinkhole, and has been in existence since at least the 14th century, probably dating back to the 11th century.
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The sinkhole is the only one in Malta that is not covered in sediment. The natural environment is protected and integrated in the list of
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218:. A variant of this legend speaks of a nun as saved while praying in the small San Mattew Crypt during the occurrence.
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289:), an endemic species on the archipelago. The sinkhole is also a nesting site for the national bird of Malta, the
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hamlet, saving only the wise neighbour. The angels then threw a fragment into the sea, creating the isle of
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with a surface area of around 4,765 square metres (51,290 sq ft) situated in the village of
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The cavity appeared violently on 23 November 1343 during a violent storm, or possibly an earthquake.
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bestowed onto the locality by the
European Union's Commission for Tourism.
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La langue maltaise: études syntaxiques d'un dialecte arabe "périphérique"
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floor situated above a cavity hollowed out by water flowing in a
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Like all sinkholes, this cavity was formed by the collapse of a
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Vanhove, Martine (1993). Harrassowitz Verlag, Otto (ed.).
323:"Il-Maqluba, Qrendi, Malta, Legends, myths & folklore"
379:(in French). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 477–533.
436:, Malta, 4 January 2005. Retrieved on 18 September 2016.
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and includes the presence of Malta's national tree,
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428:"Filfla too had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady"
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139:4,765 square metres (51,290 sq ft)
263:in Malta. Dense scrubland is dominated by
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447:"Il-Maqluba, Qrendi- A Sinkhole in Malta"
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228:chapel consecrated to Saint Matthew
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453:(in Maltese). pp. 477–533
352:Maltese History & Heritage
302:The site is open to visitors.
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201:Appearance of the cavity
348:"Earthquakes in Malta"
273:, known in Maltese as
270:Tetraclinis articulata
147:15 m (49 ft)
277:, as well as Maltese
103:35.83056°N 14.45778°E
296:Monticola solitarius
239:bramble (għollieq).
184:Geological formation
484:Sinkholes of Europe
255:Natural environment
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479:Geography of Malta
286:Salsola melitensis
108:35.83056; 14.45778
354:. 25 January 2013
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136:Surface area
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261:Natura 2000
162:upside-down
158:overturned
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81:Coordinates
56:Il-Maqluba
21:Il-Maqluba
473:Categories
306:References
154:Il-Maqluba
94:14°27′28″E
91:35°49′50″N
412:ignored (
402:cite book
190:limestone
156:(meaning
275:għargħar
170:sinkhole
70:Location
327:Geulogy
280:Salsola
209:Legends
194:karstic
168:) is a
166:Maltese
489:Qrendi
457:9 June
392:9 June
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358:5 June
332:9 June
265:laurel
222:Chapel
216:Filfla
174:Qrendi
74:Qrendi
58:Qrendi
23:Qrendi
126:Malta
120:Basin
459:2015
414:help
394:2015
381:ISBN
360:2015
334:2015
299:).
283:, (
164:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
