Malta’s Sodom and Gomorah.

According to legend this strange crater located in an area known as II – Maqluba was the result of the moral decline of the people living in this area. According to the story God was so displeased with the people here that he tore the earth asunder and hurled it into the sea which was said to have formed the nearby island known as Filfla. It is said that an old woman who lived in the village here was directed by God to warn the people to change their ways, in some stories the old woman is portrayed as a Nun. When the people ignored the warnings God dispatched a number of Angels who removed the land where the village stood, only sparing the chapel which can still be seen on the edge of the crater.

However a more realistic explanation of the creation of this unusual crater is linked to an extreme storm which took place back in 1343, it is said that this storm caused the collapse of the underlying strata of limestone which created a doline or sinkhole.