History of Ghar il-Kbir

The idyllic setting of the caves and the quaintness of the inhabitant’s way of life became an attraction to various foreign visitors to the island.  The most famous of these was, perhaps, the distinguished Dutch scholar and mathematician Athanasius Kircher.  In 1637, while on a visit to Grand Master Lascaris at Verdala Palace at Buskett, Kircher was taken to the nearby Ghar il-Kbir.  He was impressed by the troglodytic community and included a vivid description of it in his “Mundus Subterraneus” published in 1678.  This description probably served as an inspiration for an early 18th century print engraved and published in Leiden by Peter van der Aa, that claims to show a romanticised scene of everyday life in the settlement