Welcome to the Valetta Khachkar!
A khachkar, (Armenian: խաչքար) is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and botanical motifs.
Most early khachkars were erected for the salvation of the soul of either a living or a deceased person. Otherwise they were intended to commemorate a military victory, the construction of a church, or as a form of protection from natural disasters.
The earliest khachkars date from the 9th century. The art of carving khachkars has witnessed a rebirth as a symbol of Armenian culture in the 20th century.
Valletta’s own khachkar was installed in Hastings Gardens on 22nd December 2009 by the Armenian community in Malta. The adjacent plaque records this is in thanks for the Maltese people offering refuge to the Armenians during the events of 1375 and 1915. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Valletta and by members of the Maltese Parliament.
The khachkar was created in Armenia from local igneous rock and brought to Valletta.
There are some great views from the top at Hastings Gardens. Please note, the gates seem to be locked at night, and some of them during the day too. If visiting during the day, and some of the gates are locked, there may be unlocked gates a short distance away. I found that the entrance to the Gardens at the marked waypoint are the most reliable entry point.
Close up of the Valletta Khachkar
Minerals make up rocks. Rocks are formed in many different types of environment. These can be on, or within the Earth's crust. There are three types of rock, and each is formed in a different way:
Sedimentary rocks are formed on the Earth’s surface from the products of weathering which then becomes cemented or deposited. They are formed by the accumulation of sediments.
Metamorphic rocks are formed inside the Earth by temperature and pressure changes that affect existing rocks.
Igneous rock is formed within the Earth’s crust, or on it’s surface. It is formed by the cooling of magma (molten rock.)
All three types of rock make up the Earth’s crust.
The geology of Malta consists wholly of sedimentary rocks. Therefore, the igneous rock that makes up this khachkar is quite different to any that occurs naturally in the archipelago. The rock that made the khachkar, however, is not quite so unusual in Armenia. It was quarried near the town of Armavir in western Armenia.
Today, Armenia is a country of extinct volcanoes, though it is still tectonically active and there are regular earthquakes. Nevertheless, approximately 25 million years ago, when this rock was formed, there were many volcanoes present in the Armavir region.
The volcanic activity in the Armavir region lasted for several million years. At the start of the volcanic activity, volcanic ash fell, which fell back to Earth and over millions of years was lithified, producing an igneous rock called tuff. Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a solid rock in a process called consolidation.
Tuff is an igneous rock that forms from the products of violent volcanic eruptions. These eruptions cause the volcano to blast rock, ash, magma, gas and other materials high into the air. This material then falls back to Earth in the surrounding area. If the material is compacted and lithified into a rock, then this rock is called tuff.
Formations of tuff are usually thickest near the volcanic vent. Rather than thinking of them as a layer, tuff is better described as a lens-shaped deposit. It can also be thicker depending on which way the wind was blowing (thicker downwind of the vent) or according to the side of the vent where the blast was directed.
Tuff deposits can contain xenoliths (inclusions of foreign rock) that were not created by volcanic activity. Rather, when the volcanic explosion happened underground, the force broke some of the overlying bedrock and launched it into the air with the ash, magma and other material. If the xenoliths are larger than 2.5 inches (6.35cm) wide, they might be referred to as volcanic breccia. Volcanic breccia has chunks (clasts) of older rocks which generally have angular, rather than rounded, edges. The clasts are also found in a fine-grained matrix. The individual grains in the matrix cannot be seen with the naked eye. This is referred to as a pyroclastic texture. (Pyro means fire, and clastic means broken.) The breccia clasts represent fragments of rock shattered by the force of an explosive volcanic eruption, and the debris was buried in volcanic ash - that’s the fine-grained matrix.
Tuff also varies by particle size. Near the vent, a tuff might consist mainly of large breccia clasts in a volcanic ash matrix. With distance from the vent, the clasts will be smaller and less frequent in size. At the edges of the rock unit, the tuff might be mainly composed of very fine ash.
Tuff deposits can be hundreds of metres thick. Each deposit might have come from one volcanic eruption, or more commonly, from successive surges of a single eruption, or even separate eruptions from the volcano that occurred over long periods of time.
Volcanic breccia and tuff are pyroclastic textures that both result from explosive volcanic eruptions. The major difference is whether larger fragments are present in the rock, and if so, the size of the clasts.
To log this cache, please visit the published co-ordinates and answer the questions below. Once you have obtained the answers, please send them to me via email or through the Message Centre. You are free to log your find once you have contacted me. You don't have to wait for a reply. If there are any questions about your answers, I’ll contact you.
Logs without answers will be deleted. Please don’t include close up pictures in your logs that may answer the questions.
1. Look at the khachkar. What is it’s approximate height?
2. Please observe all sides of the khachkar. Are you able to see any xenoliths in the rock? If so, please describe their colour, average dimensions and how far apart they are. Are they all the same?
3. Based on your answers to Q2, is the pyroclastic texture of this khachkar better described as tuff or volcanic breccia?
4. Optional, take a photo of yourself and/or your GPS in the general area of this EarthCache.
Good luck, and many thanks for visiting this EarthCache.
