Marsaxlokk is often followed by the adjective ‘picturesque’. It is not a cliche. You’ll find Marsaxlokk even better than what the tourist brochures and postcards depict. The name itself means ‘the harbour facing the south-east’. It’s emblem is a blue St. Andrew’s cross on a white shield and its motto is ‘Portus Herculis’; the harbour dedicated to the Roman idol Hercules. There is sufficient archaeological evidence to confirm that in ancient times an impressive temple dedicated to Hercules towered over the harbour.

Indeed excavations carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission in the 1960’s revealed a complex of temples in honour of various gods worshipped in the islands throughout history. The Tas-Silg Temples, in fact, mirror the history of Malta from prehistoric to early Christian times. It seems as though the people who occupied the islands left their particular cultural imprints on this site which stands on an elevation over the harbour. Archaeologists believe that Tas-Silg is where the famous temple of Juno stood.