Malta

Neolithic settlements date from 5200 BC and the megalithic temples at Ġgantija on the island of Gozo, constructed around 3500 BC, are considered the second oldest man-made religious structures in the world. Subsequent Bronze Age settlements (the Tarxien Cemetery culture) show similarities with ones discovered on Sicily. Phoenicians, possibly from Tyre in modern-day Lebanon, began colonizing Malta during the 7th century BC.