Għar ix-Xiħ (The Old Man’s Cave) is a modified cave site found in the outskirts of Xewkija, within the valley, overlooking Mgarr ix-Xini Bay. It was inhabited since the 2nd-century B.C. and was re-discovered in 2009, along with Punic and Roman remains and artefacts in the valley area. Legend has it that an old man, thus the cave’s name, used to hold court in the cave while keeping prisoners locked up in a nearby cave known as il-Ħabs (The Prison). Presumably, in one act of final madness, the old judge locked all of his prisoners alive in the ħabs.
