Victoria Lines Malta walk | Map and location guide

The Victoria Lines Malta are located in a breathtaking area on the Island of Malta and the Victoria Lines themselves are a not too breathtaking walk across the island.

Victoria Lines Malta

The Victoria Lines Malta start at Madliena Heights on the East coast of Malta and finishes at Fomm Ir-Rih on the west coast of Malta. Walking along the Victoria Lines Malta you will have a superb view of the island and even Gozo. The Victoria Lines Malta were constructed on the top and along the Great Fault line. The Great Fault has either the result or has created an escarpment that cuts the island of Malta in half. The Victoria Lines Malta were built on and through stunning scenery locations.

At the starting point of the Victoria Lines you can see Bahar ic-Caghaq. Built on the coastal town of Bahar ic-Caghaq the tourist attractions of the Splash and Fun Water Park and also the Mediterraneo Marine Park Malta where you can swim with Dolphins!

The Valleys or Gaps that the Victoria Lines Malta cross over with small bridges are puzzling geology on a limestone island. Especially the ones at Ghargur/Madliena. How were these created by water erosion when the land where the valleys come out to very little signs of a stream let alone an eroded river?

Starting walking the Victoria Lines Malta

The start of the Victoria Lines Malta can be found located at Madliena Heights, near Paceville and just off the Regional Road (main Coast Road on the East side of Malta).

The starting point of the Victoria Lines Malta has a free small Car Park (Google Earth co-ordinates 35°55'56.33"N 14°27'23.51"E) at the end of Engineer Street (Triq L-Inginier), Madliena Heights (photograph on the left). If you drive/walk to Madliena Heights and start to cross Gharghur Bridge (photograph on the right) then you have gone to far.

Gharghur Bride crosses the other end of Wied il-Faham and shows that the hill tops slope down that end. If these Wieds (Valleys) are Dry River Valleys (eroded by water/river that no longer flows through them) where did all the water come from to create such immense erosion over such a short distance? The only dubious theory to explain the Islands puzzling Dry River Valleys is that Malta, instead of an Ice Age, had a Rainy Age.

From the start of the Victoria Lines Malta at Madliena you walk down the over grown and rough pathway down into Wied il-Faham (Wied means Valley in Maltese) and across the small bridge. The Victoria Lines then continue up to the top of the Great Fault line beside the village of Gharghur. Walking along the Victoria Lines here you can see a very interesting and special techno building. Il Widna (Maltese for "the Ear")

is a Sound Mirror or Accoustic Mirror built below the Great Fault escarpment at Maghtab. These pre World War 2 buildings were used as sound radar devices to listen out for airplanes taking off from nearby Sicily.

You will and Must See along the Victoria Lines Malta

Carrying on walking along the Victoria Lines Malta, 12 km in length, you will pass beside or through many interesting historic and prehistoric sites and buildings. These range from the Naxxar Gap Cart Ruts that curve puzzling down the Great Fault escarpment, the Bingemma Gap Cart Ruts and Cart Ruts Ridges (near the Nadur Tower) to finish at perhaps the most spectacular scenic location on the island of Malta, Fomm Ir-Rih Bay. The Bay and Headlands of Fomm Ir-Rih have one of the last unspoilt beaches (stone/pebbles) on Malta. They also have a large Syncline and mysterious Cart Ruts that lead straight off the edge of the Cliff! Why do they lead off the cliff top, where were they going?

What are the Victoria Lines Malta?

The Victoria Lines Malta are actually a series of "Lines", huge defensive walls with fortifications built along the Lines. The Victoria Lines Malta were built by the British and construction of these defensive buildings was finished in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Although the Victoria Lines Malta are impressive they were found to be not that effective during War Games.

youtube video of the Victoria Lines Malta and its history

Victoria Lines Malta - links, guides and websites

** Victoria Lines Malta | Photographs album
** The Victoria Lines Malta | chevron.co.uk
** Victoria Lines Fortifications | unesco.org
** Victoria Lines Walk (Gharghur) | gharghur.gov.mt
** Victoria Lines Walk | Ramblers Association | Walking below the Victoria Lines
** The Victoria Lines on the island of Malta