A house in the country

People can live in town houses, farmhouses or country houses and some people had very comfortable homes in caves

A famous cave settlement is Ghar il-Kbir, in Dingli, which has eight small caves, on two levels set around a huge, natural cavern. Residences, in the smaller caves, have stone walls inside and at the entrance, to define the living quarters. There are also rings in the ceiling, ducts, shelves and niches that were used for different purposes.

The first known cave resident was Simone Camilleri known as De gar il-chibir, in 1544. A Maltese historian, Giovanni Francesco Abela, included Ghar il-Kbir in his list of inhabited places on the island. He mentioned 27 families, who were shepherds and lived in the caves.

But when Athanasius Kircher, a German scholar, visited Ghar il-Kbir in the 17th century, he wrote of being greeted by tall, strong and simply dressed children and adults.

He noted that the women were remarkably good looking. They took care of the children and made cheese while the men worked in the fields and looked after the animals. Their produce was sold in the towns.

The people were vegetarians and ate vegetables, cheese and homemade bread.

They used dried cow dung as fuel and stored drinking water in large earthenware jars.

The caves were decorated with holy pictures and aired by shafts, which kept out the rain and wind.

And here are some of your pictures of country buildings.

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By Rachel Gambin, 10, of Attard

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By Adrian Zahra, nine, of Zurrieq

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By Sean Cini, 10, of Mosta

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By Michela Saliba, 10, of Dingli

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By Rebekah Bulteel, 11, of Marsaxlokk

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