Malta's hidden history

The first volume of Underground Malta 360°, the seventh issue in the monthly Miranda 360° collection of magazines, will be published with The Times tomorrow.

Underground conjures up images of the concealed, the unusual. It is natural and prehistoric such as at Għar Dalam. Yet, it's also man-made and modern as in the Has-Saptan oil storage tunnels.

Underground is protected from the elements as in the case of the stunning 12th century frescoes at St Agatha's Catacombs in Rabat where there is an abundance of crypts and an extraordinary Byzantine chapel.

Extensive underground worlds were created by the military. One moves from a giant cave in Vittoriosa where the Knights of the Order of St John kept their slaves, to the shelters where the Maltese took refuge during World War II, then, linking the two ages, the tunnels beneath the Grandmaster's Palace where Churchill and Roosevelt met before Yalta.

Underground can be useful space too such as the underground flour mill in Xlendi. Underground is, ultimately, wonder and discovery.

This is what Underground Malta 360° portrays - Malta's hidden history. It is the first volume in a series of two that reveals the islands that never cease to surprise.

The Miranda 360° Collection is printed by Progress Press, a member of the Allied Group. As customary, tomorrow's issue will be printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. FSC is an international, non-profit organisation that promotes the responsible management of the world's forests and helps ensure that they will not be destroyed for future generations.

Tomorrow, the price of The Times will increase from 60c to €1.