Temple of Proserpina

A Roman temple in Mtarfa, Malta, dedicated to Proserpina (the Roman Persephone), goddess of the underworld and renewal, located in a suburb outside the walls of ancient Melite. A Latin inscription discovered in 1613 records that Chrestion, a freedman of Augustus and procurator of Malta and Gozo, restored the temple's columns, roof, and walls which had deteriorated with age. The temple featured marble construction with Corinthian columns. Its ruins were destroyed in the 17th-18th centuries when marble blocks were removed for reuse, including the trophy of Grandmaster Carafa above the Auberge d'Italie entrance and the facade of the Castellania in Valletta. In 2002, a wall from the temple's crepidoma was discovered during construction work on Villegaignon Street.