The Xaghra Circle (also known as the Brochdorff Circle) was depicted in a water-colour by Charles de Brochdorff in 1824, when Col. Otto Bayer was 'excavating' (digging would be a better word) the site. The pit created by Bayer was filled in and the site disappeared. Joseph M. Attard, studying the two Brochdorff water-colours and the typography of the fields of Xaghra, figured out the field where the Stone Circle had been situated. With the Museum Department, he saved the site from becoming a housing estate in the 1980s.
In an Anglo-Maltese campaign between 1987-1994 directed by Prof. Anthony Bonanno, Dr Tancred Gouder (succeeded by Mr. Anthony Pace), Dr Caroline Malone, Dr Simon Stodart and Dr David Trump, the site was excavated scientifically. Many interesting finds were made in this campaign and the excavation has showed that the site of the Stone Circle had been used since 4,100-3,800 BCE, although the main part was a hypogeum used at the time of the Ggantija Temples. There are still parts of the site that await excavation in the future.

Pronunciation: ich-chir-ku tash-sha-ra

Click on image to see a reconstruction of the Xaghra Circle