Malta's underground hidden history

Underground Malta 360° (Volume Two) is a feast of unusual and unexpected views of the islands' unique heritage.

The book explores some of Malta's hidden history - additional highlights that give an extra, unspoken insight into the extraordinary history and development of this tiny archipelago. The islands never cease to surprise.

As it does on the land above, Underground Malta echoes the course of the islands' history. The book celebrates Malta's spirituality, its architectural and artistic heritage, its cultural and military patrimony, its economy and tourism, through a series of spectacular photographs of subterranean Malta.

Underground lie the traces of the first presence of prehistoric man on the islands' soil as well as the important sites from the days of the knights and the private details of the houses of prayer that are so sacred to the Christian religion that is the backbone of Malta's daily life. There too are the man-made constructions that in their day answered the demands of developing wartime military expediency and the islands' continuing commercial reality.

A great number of the places featured in the book are not yet open to visitors and many have never been photographed in such a manner.

The book, the sixth in the 360° series, is published by Miranda Publishers. The previous ones were: Malta 360°, Malta 360° by Night, Gozo and Comino 360°, Underground Malta 360° Volume One and Welcome Malta to Europe 360°. Next year Miranda will be publishing three books in the 360° series: World Heritage Sites in Malta 360°, Museums in Malta 360° and Malta from the Sea 360°.

Marketing director Eddie Aquilina said: "We went deep into Malta's underground sites situated beneath churches, museums, flour mills, catacombs, private residences and restaurants. We also visited dungeons, war shelters, wine cellars, catacombs and crypts. The wealth of historical sites that date back to 5,000-6,000BC is unbelievable. And, in my opinion, it is surprising how somebody has not as yet come up with the idea of having specialised holidays targeted towards this market in Malta.

"To produce this second volume, researching the sites and photographing the places took months to organise and I would like to thank so many people who helped make these two books a reality. A special thanks goes to the photographer, Enrico Formica, who is the exclusive photographer in our 360° series, and Edward Said for his thorough research on all the sites covered. Who knows? Maybe a third one could be in the pipeline.

"The book has been dedicated to the memory of Julian Zammit, who passed away earlier this year, a dear cousin to me and my brother Tony."

The book is available from all leading booksellers and retails at Lm39.95.

www.mirandabooks.com