Editing Malta (section)

===Architecture===
{{main|Architecture of Malta}}
[[File:Valletta Lower Barrakka gardens Malta 2014 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lower Barrakka Gardens]]]]

Maltese architecture has been influenced by many different Mediterranean cultures and British architecture over its history.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Diab |first=Khaled |date=26 July 2010 |title=Malta's mash of civilisations {{!}} Khaled Diab |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/26/malta-mash-civilisations-eu-membership |url-status=live |access-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810094352/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/26/malta-mash-civilisations-eu-membership |archive-date=10 August 2018 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The first settlers on the island constructed [[Ġgantija]], one of the oldest manmade freestanding structures in the world. The Neolithic temple builders (3800–2500 BC) endowed the numerous temples of Malta and Gozo with intricate bas-relief designs.

The Roman period introduced highly decorative mosaic floors, marble colonnades, and classical statuary, remnants of which are beautifully preserved and presented in the Roman Domus, a country villa just outside the walls of [[Mdina]]. The early Christian frescoes that decorate the [[catacombs]] beneath Malta reveal a propensity for eastern, [[Byzantine]] tastes. These tastes continued to inform the endeavours of [[medieval]] Maltese artists, but they were increasingly influenced by the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] and [[Southern Gothic]] movements.