2 Best Sights in Gozo and Comino, Malta

Imagine domes rising from the heavy stone walls of eastern Xagħra's 5,800-year-old Ġgantija Temples, and you will get a sense of their original power. Each bears the classic five-apse plan that is the signature of Maltese megalithic temples. This is currently considered to be the oldest freestanding man-made structure in the world, created more than 1,000 years before the first stone was laid of the Pyramids of Giza. Much of it has been reconstructed from sketches by European travelers who visited over the centuries, as locals slowly picked away at its stones. An adjoining museum puts it all in context and shows many of the carvings discovered here.

What was once a tiny chapel servicing an equally minuscule village found fame in 1883 when a local woman was said to hear the voice of the Virgin here. Pilgrims flocked to it, overwhelming the chapel, so a wealthy local man paid to build what is now Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary around it in the 1920s (the chapel still exists in part behind the altar, along with the tomb of the woman who heard the "miracle"). It's an impressive building, constructed in soft Maltese stone, which meant they could carve intricate Romanesque flourishes. Perhaps the most remarkable sight is the votive offerings in the rear, left by visitors who have experienced "miracles" of their own and who wish to thank the Virgin. From broken bicycle wheels to plaster casts, all manner of personal memorabilia is strewn across the walls, with written stories accompanying each and making for fascinating reading.