The "entrance" to the inner southern apse viewed from the terminal altar area.
The "entrance" to the inner southern apse viewed from the terminal altar area.
The inner southern apse is very elaborate,
its interior can be seen here.
Access to the apse from the altar area is blocked by the small pedestal altar
seen above, so
it
appears that entry to this apse was via the decorated doorway in the outer
southern
apse. However, a photo taken around 1930 shows the entrance above clear and
capped
with a shelf-like lintel, marks where this stone located can be seen at the top of the side
slabs in the
photo above. A pedestal is shown between the stones in the older photo,
but this stands loose
against the right wall-slab, and is not the same pedestal that is seen in the photo above.
A hybrid stage of "restoration" seems to have been reached by the
1950's, Evans (2) published
an aerial photo of the temples that shows both the modern altar above and the higher lintel
from the 1930's photo both in place. This configuration would have
matched the altars in the other
two niches, in some respects and seems to have survived to at least 1972, as
Trump (6) mentions a
double altar arrangement in this location at that time.
The earliest reliable account of this area is by Mayr (3), he noted the
presence of the upper
mounting grooves and described finding a pedestal lying in the southern
inner apse just in front
of the opening. Mayr thought that these findings indicated a third double altar
"niche" in this location,
but only the existence of an upper slab is definite, and this feature on its own
would still allow
access to the inner southern apse from the terminal altar area. It is
interesting to note that both the
southern and western niches had torba floors, only the northern
"niche" was paved with a slab, a
feature only seen in passageways and entrances elsewhere in the temple.
2. Evans J.D., The Prehistoric Antiquities of the Maltese Islands, 1971 The
Athlone Press, London.
3. Mayr A., Abhandlungen der kgl. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaft,
1, Cl., XXI. Bd., III. Abth., 1901.
6. Trump D.H., Malta: An Archaeological Guide, 1972 Faber & Faber, London