03/20/2026
Hello from Ancient Malta!
In Malta, “Lawrence the falconer” almost certainly refers to Lawrence Formosa, one of the island’s most well-known modern falconers and handlers of birds of prey.
His story feels like something lifted from another age. He fell in love with birds when he was just four years old, the moment he first held one in his hands—later recalling it felt as though he had been given the world.
From that day on, his life became intertwined with the skies. For over forty years, he has worked with falcons, hawks, and owls, building not just skill, but trust. A deep, almost familial bond. Many of his birds are trained to fly freely, only to return to him—guided not by force, but by instinct and connection. Falconry itself is one of the oldest traditions known to humankind. In Malta, it once carried noble prestige, where falcons were so prized they were said to be worth their weight in gold. For Lawrence, this is more than a practice—it is a calling. He has dedicated his life to preserving this ancient art, training and flying his birds in the wild while sharing his knowledge of Malta’s natural heritage with those who come to watch. Through his work, he helps keep alive a tradition that might otherwise fade with time.
You’ll often find him along the island’s southern cliffs, in places like Wied iż-Żurrieq and the nearby Blue Grotto, where the land falls away into the endless blue of the Mediterranean. Here, against a backdrop of wind and sea, he sometimes dresses in traditional attire, releasing his birds into the open sky. They rise, circle, and disappear into the vastness—only to return, swift and certain, to his outstretched hand.
It is, by every account, something magical. A rare and timeless encounter between human and nature.
And as you leave, the image lingers—not just of the bird in flight, but of the quiet man beneath it. Still standing at the edge of the island. A keeper of an ancient bond between human and sky, holding onto a tradition Malta once treasured… and quietly ensuring it is not lost.
Our next experience was perched high on a sun-warmed ridge overlooking the endless blue of the Mediterranean, the ancient stones of Ħaġar Qim stand in quiet defiance of time. No one knows exactly who built them. There are no written records, no names etched into history—only the whisper of a people who lived here over 5,000 years ago, long before the pyramids of Giza Pyramid Complex rose from the desert sands. Imagine arriving here in 3600 BC. The air would have been thick with the scent of wild herbs, the sea stretching endlessly below. Men and women, guided by knowledge passed down through generations, hauled massive limestone blocks—some weighing more than a car—using nothing but simple tools, ingenuity, and sheer determination. Each stone carefully placed, each curve deliberate, forming temples aligned with the rhythms of the sun. Step inside, and the world changes. The noise of today fades. You’re surrounded by towering megaliths, their surfaces worn smooth by millennia of wind and touch. Doorways—perfectly shaped, almost impossibly so—lead into rounded chambers, as though the temple itself was meant to embrace those who entered. In one chamber, during the summer solstice, sunlight pours through a carefully placed opening, illuminating the stone like a spotlight from the heavens. It’s no accident. These people understood the sky. They watched it, studied it, lived by it.
Archaeologists have uncovered small statues here—figures with full forms, often called the “fat ladies.” Not gods in the way we might imagine, but symbols of fertility, life, and abundance. This wasn’t just a place of worship—it was a place of connection. To the earth. To the seasons. To each other. And then… they vanished.
Around 2500 BC, the temple builders disappeared. No signs of war, no clear catastrophe—just silence. The temples remained, slowly claimed by earth and time, until they were rediscovered thousands of years later. Today, as you stand beneath the protective canopy, looking out over the same sea they once knew, it’s hard not to feel a quiet sense of wonder. Who were they? How did they move such immense stones? And perhaps most haunting of all—why did they leave? The wind still moves through Ħaġar Qim, just as it did thousands of years ago. And if you listen closely, it almost feels like the stones are trying to tell you their story.
Our last experience, The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, is not just a place—it is a descent into time itself. Beneath the modern streets of Paola lies a secret that the sun has never touched. You wouldn’t know it at first. Above ground, life hums along as it always has—cars passing, voices echoing, the rhythm of a living island. But below… far below… another world waits.
You step inside, and the light begins to fade. Stone surrounds you, cool and silent, carved not by nature, but by human hands over 5,000 years ago. Deeper you go, through narrow passageways and chambers that seem to breathe with age. This is no ordinary structure—it is a temple, a sanctuary, and a resting place for the dead, all hidden beneath the earth.
No sunlight has ever reached these walls. And yet, they feel alive. The chambers open one by one, each more mysterious than the last. Smooth curves carved into limestone, red ochre spirals still faintly visible—echoes of a people long gone, yet somehow still present. In one room, your guide pauses. This is the Oracle Chamber. You speak softly… just a whisper.
But the sound returns to you, deeper, richer—resonating through the stone as if the earth itself is answering. It’s said that a voice here can travel through the entire complex, vibrating through your bones. Some believe it was used in rituals, where sound became something sacred… something powerful. You don’t need to believe the stories to feel it. You feel it anyway.
As you move deeper, the air grows still. This was once a place of burial—thousands of individuals laid to rest within these chambers. Among them, the famous Sleeping Lady, a small carved figure found curled in eternal rest, as if dreaming through the ages. Time behaves differently here. There are no windows. No sense of day or night. Only the quiet presence of something ancient… something watching. And then, slowly, you begin your ascent. Step by step, you return toward the surface, toward light, toward the present. But something stays with you—a feeling you can’t quite name. Because the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum is more than stone and history. It is a whisper from a forgotten world. A place where the living once stood in the darkness, speaking to the unseen… and perhaps, just perhaps, were heard. When you step back outside into the Maltese sun, it feels brighter than before.
But you can’t help but glance back. Because beneath your feet, the ancient world is still there… waiting in the dark.
No cameras are permitted inside the Hypogeum, we do not have pictures of our own. Here are a few from the book that was purchased by some of our friends.