Paola

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On the 20th July of 1626, Grandmaster Fra Antoine De Paule set up a new town which he named "PAULA" in his honour. The streets were laid on the grid plan, the first building a church dedicated to St. Ubaldesca, a sister in the Order of St. John. The town developed into a commercial centre adorned with gardens and open spaces.

As house foundations were being excavated, important prehistoric discoveries were uncovered. The Hypogeum, declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, is such a site. It is a labyrinthine complex of man-made rock-cut chambers extending some 11 metres below ground. It was used both as a burial site and as a temple. The Hypogeum is made up of three superimposed levels.

The temples at Kordin are other important prehistoric sites. Kordin I formed one of three sites on the high plateau overlooking the Grand Harbour, originally excavated by A.A. Caruana, later to be continued by Sir Themistocles Zammit and T. Ashby and T.E. Peet. Kordin I has been obliterated by air attacks during the Second World War and the building of an industrial estate on the site. Kordin II was first investigated by C. Vassallo in 1840. The site must have been used during all of the temple period since a small amount of pottery from all this period's phases were found during the excavations.

The Kordin III temple, in a very ruinous condition, is of the standard Ġgantija phase 3-apse design. It is the only temple whose forecourt, in front of the concave facade, is stone paved. The most notable feature on the site is the 2.75 metre long 'trough' lying across the entrance to the left apse. The site is in a walled enclosure next to the Church and is kept locked.