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Ghar Hassan

The legend about Għar Ħassan (Hassan-cave) takes us back to the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 when a Turkish runaway named Saracen Ħassan, who found his way to Malta and hid in a cave. The legend states that He fell in love with a Maltese farm girl who's family wouldn't allow them to be together. The girl, who also loved him ran away with him to live in this cave and in order to get by they would abduct local girls and trade them for supplies to the ships that would pass by lowering the girls down to the ships below. Finally one of brave abducted girls knocked Hassan out with a rock and escaped, ending the abductions.

Another similar legend states that Ħassan kidnapped a Maltese girl and took her with him to this cave as a captive. When the Maltese people found him, instead of being held captive he preferred killing the girl and committing suicide, so he jumped into the sea taking the Maltese girl with him.

The cave setting is most spectacular. From the car park, a foot path over a "karst garden", leads to a flight of 25 precarious steps, heading down the limestone cliff high over the sea. A walk along a narrow path, carved out of the cliff, protected by a very rusty guard rail leads to the entrance. Ħassan, apparently, entered the cave from below via a rope tethered at the entrance. The main entrance to the cave is 5m high and 6m wide and the entrance is of similar dimensions for the first 20m. In the top of this passage is a roof tube, sometimes separated from the main passage by a thin layer of rock and sometimes just a half tube in the roof. Partially enlarged master joints can be seen crossing the main passage.

Most of them come to a dead end but a large one extends for 48m and 73m respectively to two further entrances along the cliff face. At the eastern entrance there is a man made circular chamber, with obvious pick marks on the walls, and a stone bench around the edge, it has been speculated that this was, in fact, where Ħassan lived.

The cave is almost bereft of formations, although there are some small stalactites and some splash deposits. A broken iron gate bars the inner recess to the cave. Here, according to Savona-Ventura are some cave paintings, but, as they were only discovered in the last 10 years, their antiquary is in some dispute. The cave is heavily trashed and there are syringes and guano in evidence. Watch where you walk and wear gloves. The lady who sits in a hut in the car park will lend you a torch if you give her a tip. Otherwise take your own as little of the cave can be seen from the daylight which filters in from the entrances.

One can go on a self-guided tour of this Cave free of charge. It is located in Hal Far, Malta. 2km south-west of Kalafrana, well signposted from the Kalafrana/Zurrieq road

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