Looking through the Azure Window

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Looking through the Azure Window

Looking through the Azure Window

If you look real close, you can see a piece of gear hanging from the ceiling. I have no idea how long it's been up there. Climbing on these rocks has been forbidden for some time, so either some climbers have been there illegally, or, more likely, it's been hanging there for a long time. As of today, it's definitely not there anymore - the whole window suffered a dramatic collapse! The roof is completely gone, as is a big part of the supporting pillar on the left. For more information, see The Times of Malta. 22 Dec 2016.
rgg
on Mar 8, 2017 11:05 am
Image Type(s): Scenery
Image ID: 995491

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Lodewijk

Lodewijk - Mar 9, 2017 2:26 am - Voted 10/10

Just in time

You were just in time to see it Rob :-) I heared it on the news (NOS) yesterday. Sad story, but at least you took a good shot of it to share with us.
Thanks for posting.

rgg

rgg - Mar 9, 2017 11:12 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Just in time

My feelings on the collapse are a bit ambivalent.

I'm a bit sad that such a magnificent feature is gone forever. On the other hand, I knew it was going to happen. Though I never thought it would be so soon, I accept it. Sometimes natural erosion is helped along by human influence, accidental or otherwise, but in this case it was just the force of nature. The big waves whipped up by the storm proved too much for the pillar on the left:

Azure Window
Azure Window


It appears massive (check out the people on the top), and far to big to be vulnerable to waves. The "after" images in the Times of Malta show that most of the pillar is gone, so I can only guess that there was some serious weakness inside and not just the obvious fault line higher up the pillar.

EricChu

EricChu - Mar 9, 2017 1:56 pm - Voted 10/10

Very nice shot!

Too bad that had to happen yesterday... R. I. P....

rgg

rgg - Mar 9, 2017 4:31 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Very nice shot!

Yes, it was. Fortunately there is still a lot more to see and there are plenty of other climbing opportunities on the Maltese islands.

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