Prehistoric Malta
Farming communities settle the islands and later build Malta's extraordinary megalithic temple complexes.
- c. 5900 BC first permanent settlement
- c. 3600-2500 BC Temple Period
Malta Guide · 03
HistoryThe Maltese Islands Through Time
Malta through time
Small islands at the crossroads of some very large histories.
Temples, empires, sieges, shipyards and independence all sit within a few kilometres of one another.
Layers rather than a straight line
Malta's history is written into the landscape.
People have lived on the Maltese Islands since the sixth millennium BC. Prehistoric communities built extraordinary megalithic monuments here long before the classical empires that later crossed the Mediterranean.
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, medieval European dynasties, the Order of St John, France and Britain all left traces. Modern Malta emerged through self-government, war, independence in 1964 and the declaration of the republic in 1974.
History at a glance
Six eras that explain most of Malta's story.
A single chronological overview before diving into the periods in more detail.
Phoenician to Roman
Malta becomes part of trading and imperial networks linking the eastern and western Mediterranean.
- c. 8th century BC Phoenician presence
- 218 BC Roman rule begins
Byzantine, Arab & medieval
Successive rulers reshape Malta's language, religion and political connections to Sicily and Europe.
- 870 Arab conquest
- 1091 onward Norman and Sicilian connection
The Order of St John
The Knights turn Malta into a fortified Mediterranean stronghold and transform the Grand Harbour skyline.
- 1530 Order arrives
- 1565 Great Siege
- 1566 Valletta founded
French & British Malta
A short French occupation gives way to British rule, dockyards, constitutional change and two world wars.
- 1800 British control begins
- 1921 self-government
- 1942 George Cross
The modern state
Independence, republican status and European integration redefine Malta as a sovereign state.
- 1964 independence
- 1974 republic
- 2004 European Union
Prehistory
Before empires, Malta was already building in stone.
The islands' prehistoric record is one of the strongest reasons Malta matters far beyond its size.
What matters here.
Malta's first farming communities eventually created one of the Mediterranean's most distinctive prehistoric cultures, building monumental stone complexes and the extraordinary Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum.
Settlement begins in the sixth millennium BC.
Temple building peaks around 3600-2500 BC.
The monuments suggest organised, highly skilled communities.
Early farmers establish permanent communities on islands that had been uninhabited by humans.
Free-standing megalithic buildings appear across Malta and Gozo during the fourth and third millennia BC.
The Hypogeum preserves a remarkable subterranean cemetery associated with Malta's prehistoric communities.
New material traditions, fortified settlements and cremation practices mark a changed prehistoric society.
What matters here
Malta's first farmers eventually created one of the Mediterranean's most distinctive prehistoric cultures, leaving monumental temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum.
Sixth millennium BC
Early farmers establish permanent communities on islands that had previously been uninhabited by humans.
The Temple Period
Between roughly 3600 and 2500 BC, communities build extraordinary free-standing megalithic complexes across Malta and Gozo.
Ħal Saflieni
The Hypogeum preserves a remarkable subterranean cemetery associated with Malta's prehistoric communities.
Bronze Age Malta
New material traditions, fortified settlements and cremation practices mark a changed prehistoric society.
Ancient & medieval Malta
Empires changed. The islands kept absorbing them.
From Phoenician seafarers to medieval Sicily, Malta was repeatedly drawn into larger Mediterranean worlds.
What matters here.
For almost two millennia Malta moved through Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Sicilian worlds. Each changed the islands without completely erasing what came before.
Phoenician Malta becomes part of Mediterranean trade networks.
Roman rule begins in 218 BC.
Arab rule leaves a profound linguistic legacy.
Medieval Malta remains closely tied to Sicily until 1530.
Seafaring traders connect the islands to a much wider eastern and western Mediterranean network.
Malta passes to Rome and remains within the Roman and later late-antique Mediterranean world for centuries.
Muslim rule becomes one of the deepest linguistic and cultural influences in Malta's later history.
Norman and later Sicilian rule reconnect the islands politically with Christian Europe before the arrival of the Order.
What matters here
For almost two millennia Malta moved through Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Sicilian worlds without any one layer completely erasing the last.
Phoenician Malta
Seafaring communities connect the islands to a much wider Mediterranean trading network.
Roman rule
Malta passes to Rome and remains within the Roman and late-antique Mediterranean world for centuries.
Arab conquest
Muslim rule becomes one of the deepest linguistic and cultural influences in Malta's later history.
Medieval Sicily
Norman and later Sicilian rule reconnect the islands politically with Christian Europe before the arrival of the Order.
The Order of St John
The period that reshaped Malta's skyline.
The Order arrived in 1530. Within decades, Malta had become one of the most fortified landscapes in the Mediterranean.
1565
The Great Siege
A siege, then a new capital.
In 1565 an Ottoman expedition besieged the Order and its Maltese defenders. Fighting centred on the Grand Harbour fortifications, including Fort St Elmo, Fort St Angelo and Senglea. The siege ended after months of combat and became central to the later identity of Hospitaller Malta.
The following year, the first stone of Valletta was laid on Mount Sciberras. The new fortified city was planned as a stronger defensive position and grew into the political, religious and artistic centre of the Order's Malta.
Over the next two centuries, the Knights built fortifications, churches, auberges, hospitals and palaces while commissioning artists including Caravaggio and Mattia Preti. Their rule ended when Napoleon captured Malta in 1798.
1530 · Order arrives
1565 · Great Siege
1566 · Valletta founded
1798 · French capture
The Order arrives
Charles V grants Malta to the Order of St John, beginning almost 270 years of Hospitaller rule.
The Great Siege
Ottoman forces besiege Malta. Fighting around the Grand Harbour becomes one of the defining episodes of Maltese memory.
Valletta founded
A new fortified capital is laid out on Mount Sciberras in the aftermath of the siege.
A fortified island
The Order builds forts, churches, auberges, hospitals and palaces while turning Malta into a major Mediterranean stronghold.
A Baroque legacy
Patronage under the Order leaves Malta with works associated with artists including Caravaggio and Mattia Preti.
French capture
Napoleon takes Malta during his expedition to Egypt, abruptly ending the Order's rule.
French & British Malta
From rebellion to imperial fortress.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries changed Malta's economy, politics, language and built environment almost as profoundly as the Knights had.
French occupation
Napoleon's forces remove the Order. Reforms are introduced, but resistance quickly grows and the Maltese insurgency turns to Britain and its allies for help.
British power grows
British military control becomes formal colonial rule. The Grand Harbour and dockyards gain enormous strategic importance, especially after the Suez Canal opens.
Political pressure
The Sette Giugno disturbances of 1919 become a major constitutional turning point. A new constitution grants self-government in 1921.
Second World War
Malta endures sustained Axis bombing and siege conditions because of its strategic position. King George VI awards the George Cross to Malta in 1942.
Modern Malta
Sovereignty came in stages.
Independence was the decisive break, but Malta's modern constitutional story did not stop in 1964.
From colony to sovereign state.
Malta's modern constitutional story unfolds in stages: independence, republican status, the end of the British military presence and then deeper European integration.
1964 · Independence
1974 · Republic
1979 · Final British forces leave
2004 · European Union membership
Malta becomes a sovereign state after more than a century and a half of British rule.
The constitution is amended and the office of President of Malta replaces the monarch as head of state.
The remaining British military presence ends and the defence base closes.
Malta enters the EU, followed by Schengen membership and adoption of the euro.
What matters here
Malta's modern constitutional story unfolds in stages: independence, republican status, the end of the British military presence and deeper European integration.
Independence
Malta becomes a sovereign state after more than a century and a half of British rule.
Republic
Constitutional amendments replace the monarch with a Maltese president as head of state.
Freedom Day
The remaining British military presence ends and the defence base closes.
European Union
Malta enters the EU, followed by Schengen membership in 2007 and adoption of the euro in 2008.
History you can still walk through
The best history lesson is often a place.
Malta's historical periods are unusually easy to encounter in the landscape because so many of their buildings, ruins and street patterns survive.
Megalithic Malta
Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, Tarxien, Skorba and Ta' Ħaġrat preserve monumental architecture from Malta's Temple Period.
Burials, villas and sanctuaries
Roman mosaics, Punic tombs and long-lived sacred sites reveal Malta's place inside ancient Mediterranean networks.
Fortified harbour cities
Valletta, Birgu, Senglea, Fort St Angelo and Fort St Elmo preserve the military and urban world created by the Order of St John.
Dockyards, forts and shelters
Military installations, Victorian buildings and wartime tunnels show how deeply British strategy reshaped the islands.
National memory
Independence, Republic and Freedom Day are not distant events: they remain part of Malta's public calendar and political identity.
Look for the layers
The same hill, harbour or village can contain prehistoric, Roman, medieval, Hospitaller, British and modern traces at once.
Further reading
Keep digging.
Official heritage resources and primary reference points for the periods covered above.
Heritage MaltaNational museums, archaeological sites, forts and historic properties.
UNESCO World Heritage CentreValletta, the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and Malta's megalithic temples.
National Museum of ArchaeologyMaterial culture from Malta's earliest communities and Temple Period.
Megalithic Temples of MaltaUNESCO's overview of the prehistoric temple complexes.