Xerri's Grotto — Attraction in Xaghra

Xerri’s Grotto

Hidden beneath an ordinary home in a street that bears the cave’s name in ix-Xagħra, is a small cavern with stalactites and stalagmites. The cave was discovered in 1924 by the current owners’ grandfather while he was digging a well. It is illuminated by electric lights so that visitors can see the rock formations.

Entry is via a 10m spiral staircase, built into the original well shaft (so not sutable for anyone with vertigo, mobility problems or a large girth). In the cave you take a circular tour of about 30m past some very pretty calcified formations 25 cm to a metre tall. There are also some interesting formations, which have developed as a result of calcification of tree roots. The visitor will be shown speleothems (stalactites/stalagmites) resembling a tortoise, a vulture, a giraffe and a pair of elephant’s ears. The cave was extended during the Second World War when the family used the cave as an air...

I loved this place. The owner takes you down stairs to the grotto. He is such a beautiful older man so kind and clearly loves his grandfathers grotto. Lovingly telling you about each shape he has picked out from his youth. "A part of an elephants ear , streaky bacon , a giraffe " his tour made the experience. Learning about in WW2 that people from the village used the grotto as a bomb shelter. Learning that his grandfather dug out the grotto to initially make a well and found the formations and over time by hand dug a path around and found more formations. This place is beautiful and made even more beautiful for the love that pours from the owner when telling you about growing up with it in his family. When we had finished the tour the owner gave us a lift in his car back to the square so we didnt have to walk. What a...

A true family business. The cave is quite large (maybe around 100 m2? a very rough estimate though). Exceeded expectations. One of the owning family was personally there, she was helpful and let me take lots of photos. If you want to sell this attraction to kids, you can say it's like real life Minecraft.

Down in the cave it is one circular pathway + a small side path. Perhaps ~20-30 meters total (very rough figure)

Reserve around 10-30 minutes depending if you just want to go down and up, or listen to the owner for imaginative interpretations of what animals and shapes the different stalactites, stalagmites and other formations look like. There are stalagmites millions of years old, yet some of them one could accidentally break in seconds. Let's take good...