National Museum of the Social History of the Maltese Language

Fax.: 2166 3935

Info Telefon: 2182 7006

Not open to the General Public, refurbishment works in progress.

National War Museum

Fax.: 2123 8480

Info Telefon: 2122 2430

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The National War Museum in Fort St Elmo ranks among the most popular tourist venues on the Maltese Islands. The museum mainly represents Malta’s important military role in the post-1800 period under British rule, especially during the Second World War. It was set up primarily through the efforts of dedicated enthusiasts, founders of the National War Museum Association, and was opened to the public in 1975.
The museum building was originally a powder magazine. Around 1853 it was converted into an armoury, serving during the Second World War to train anti-aircraft gun crews. Fort St Elmo, renowned for its role against incredible odds during the epic 1565 Great Siege, was extended over the years into a formidable fortress. During the Second World War, it was once more the scene of heroic action by Maltese defenders against relentless enemy action.

A key feature of the museum is the numerous photographic panels depicting the harsh conditions prevailing in Malta during the crucial War years 1940-1943. These show clearly the hardships endured by the civilian population, the massive extent of war damage, the unhealthy living conditions within primitive underground shelters and above all, the heroic gallantry of a people who withstood the prolonged siege and the suffering it brought.

Several principal exhibits are displayed in the main hall. Among other War relics are the Italian E-Boat, a Bofors anti-aircraft gun, the Willis Jeep ‘Husky’, and the Gloster Gladiator ‘Faith’. Also on display are the George Cross, awarded to Malta by King George VI, the Book of Remembrance of civilians and servicemen killed during the years 1940-43, and the illuminated Scroll presented to the “People and Defenders of Malta”, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943.

Certainly worth examining are the prestigious awards and decorations received by Maltese servicemen and civilians during the Second World War for acts of bravery and sacrifice far beyond the call of duty.

The left annex is mainly dedicated to the Royal Navy, where various uniforms, insignia and equipment are displayed. Special sections highlight prominent episodes such as the famous Malta convoys. The principal exhibits in the air hall are a section of a Spitfire, a Junkers Juno engine and a Messerschmitt wing. Also displayed are propellers, armaments, instruments, as well as relics and pictorial material relating to Axis raids.

Due credit is given to the contribution of the civilian population. Various photographs depict the role of the Civil Service, the Church, the Dockyard, the Police, the Air Raid Precautions Organisation, the Special Constabulary, the Home Guard, the Boy Scouts and other Maltese men and women.

Throughout its long and eventful history Malta endured countless wars, and the story of Malta during the Second World War is one of the greatest dramas of history. The War Museum records the significant part played by Malta that earned the Island its reputation as the Fortress Island. (c) Heritage Malta

 

Natural Science Museum

Fax.: 2155 9008

Info Telefon: 2155 6153

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

Situated behind the Law Courts in the Citadel of Victoria, Gozo, the Natural Science Museum is hosted in an old house the origins of which may date back to the Aragonese period. During the 17th and 18th centuries it was used as an inn. A visitor to the islands in the 19th century is on record as having remarked that the hotel was clean, that the food was good, and that the prices were reasonable. During the Second World War, the building gave shelter to several Maltese families who sought refuge from enemy action in Malta.
The museum’s collections are on two floors: the ground floor comprises mainly the minerals and geology sections - the latter being dedicated mainly to the geology of Gozo; while the upper floor is dedicated to ornithology and entomology.

The geology display includes marine organisms deposited on the sea floor between 35 and 5 million years ago and fragments of fossil bones from the Maltese Islands of Ice Age elephants and hippopotami. The centrepiece is a selection of stalactites and stalagmites from Gozitan caves. Another section is that of minerals, mainly from the collection of Dr Lewis Mizzi, a Gozitan lawyer and mineralogist of great repute.

Two other sections on the same floor are dedicated to human and animal evolution and marine life. An exhibit not to be missed is a tiny specimen of a moonstone accompanied by a small Maltese flag. The stone was brought from the moon’s surface by the crew of Apollo II and donated to the Maltese people by President Nixon.

The collection continues on the second floor with the ornithology display; a small collection of stuffed and mounted birds, the majority of which are migratory. Most of these birds are now legally protected species. The entomology room holds a small but impressive collection of exotic insects, butterflies and moths, and includes some local examples.

The final display is dedicated to the flora and ecosystems of the Maltese Islands, particularly of Gozo. Special attention is given to the Dwejra area with its ecosystem and flora. An important specimen is the Malta Fungus, formerly believed to grow only on the so-called ‘Fungus Rock’ in Dwejra Bay. On display one can also view the Maltese Rock Centuary, the national plant. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Old Prisons

Fax.: 2155 9008

Info Telefon: 2156 5988

Monday to Sunday: 9.00-17.00
Last admission: 16.30
Closed: 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January, Good Friday

The Old Prison is situated in the Citadel, overlooking Cathedral Square and adjacent to the Law Courts, to which it was originally connected. In its present form, the prison complex is divided into two sections: the entrance hall, which served as a common cell in the 19th century; and a free-standing block with six individual cells. The prison was in use from the mid-16th century until the beginning of the 20th century.
Soon after their arrival in Malta, the Knights of St John started making use of this prison by dispatching their rowdier members ‘to cool down therein’. A new prison was then built in 1548. After the expulsion of the Knights of St John from Malta, the prison was not to fall into disuse. In fact, the number of inmates seems to have increased as the galleys were no longer used as a penal measure.

From the mid-19th century, another building within the Citadel started functioning as a prison and continued to serve this purpose until it closed down in 1962. At first, the new prison was in use simultaneously with the old one which, for some decades, continued to house those awaiting trial.

Today, the entrance hall houses a permanent exhibition on fortifications to be found on the Island of Gozo. The individual cells, next to a central courtyard and surrounded by a narrow corridor, are still well-preserved in their original state.

Escapes are recorded to have taken place both during the rule of the Knights of St John and British rule. Incarceration coupled with hard labour was also applied as punishment. The daily food allowance for inmates was made up of a substantial amount of bread and pasta, some cheese or salted fish and, occasionally, some olives. For water, the prison had a cistern in the corridor collecting rainwater from the overlying roofs.

The walls of the cells and corridors in the old prison are covered with graffiti. It is considered as the largest collection of historical graffiti in one single place on the Maltese Islands. The representations are often of ships, and date from different periods. There are also handprints, crosses, names, dates, games, and anthropomorphic figures etched into the limestone walls. Some inmates also appear to have scratched a tally of their length of stay behind bars. The graffiti are a fascinating, human insight into the lives of those incarcerated here. (c) Heritage Malta

 

Palazzo Armeria

Pomskizillious Museum of Toys

Roman Baths

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2123 9545

Not open to the General Public, refurbishment works in progress.

Salina Catacombs

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2123 9545
Besucher-Email: info@heritagemalta.org

Open on request only .

San Pawl Milqi

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2158 2063
Besucher-Email: info@heritagemalta.org

Open on request only.

During the Roman rule of Malta (c. 218BC - 5th century AD) one of the main characteristics of the Maltese landscape was the relatively large number of villas, or country houses. These villas were rather large buildings with a substantial number of rooms and in most cases they were equipped with a central courtyard and a cistern for collecting rainwater. Only a few were used exclusively as a holiday resort. The majority of the villas seem to have been the permanent residences of rich country gentlemen.

Many villas included an area set aside for the processing of olive oil and for other agricultural activities. The fact that so many villas had olive pressing equipment implies that the cultivation of olive trees was well established on the Islands and that the Maltese economy in that period depended to a considerable extent on olive oil production and by-products.

By far the largest and best preserved remains of such villas are to be found on a hillside near Burmarrad, next to, and underneath a 17th century chapel dedicated to St Paul. Excavations carried out about 40 years ago by the Missione Archeologica Italiana reveal a relatively large agricultural estate dating from the 2nd to 3rd centuries B.C.

The site has a long and complex history. The villa was preceded by a Punic building, and survived until the Arab conquest of the Islands in the 9th century. The villa itself consisted of a residential area, which has brought to light some beautiful wall paintings, and of another section which was intended for agricultural industry. The main activity here was without doubt the crushing of olives for the extraction of oil. Finds supporting this theory include an olive-pipper and huge rectangular blocks of stone on which the wooden structures of the olive-presses would have been mounted.

The present chapel of St Paul, or San Pawl Milqi, dates from 1616 although it was built on the site of an earlier, 15th century church. San Pawl Milqi means ‘St Paul is welcomed’. It is commonly believed that this was the place where Publius, the then Island’s Roman governor, welcomed St Paul and where the Apostle preached after his shipwreck on Malta in around AD 60. However, studies and research that has been carried sometimes are difficult to reconcile with this popular tradition. The most important aspect of the site still remains the finds of the villa which shed light on the nature of the Maltese economy under the Romans. (c) Heritage Malta
 

Skorba Temples

Fax.: 2124 1975

Info Telefon: 2158 0590

Open on request only:
Tuesday: 11.30-13.00
Closed: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, 24, 25 & 31 December, 1 January

Skorba Temples lie in fields overlooking Zebbiegh, a hamlet near Mgarr, in northwest Malta. The site comprises two temple remains, side by side. Skorba, excavated in the 1960s, is one of the most informative sites since it was left untouched during the first two phases of archaeological digs at temple sites in the early 19th and 20th centuries.
At Skorba, a typical three-apsed temple was built in the Ggantija phase (3600 - 3200 BC), replacing a village that had been inhabited since the Ghar Dalam phase (5000 - 4300 BC). Remains include the stone paving of the entrance passage, with perforations to carry libation offerings, the torba floors of the apses, a 3.90 metre high slab of coralline limestone, and a step covered with pitted decoration.

The use of globigerina limestone in the construction of the doorway leading to the inner apse of the West temple is noteworthy since globigerina is not present in the immediate surface geology around Skorba. The nearest source is about a mile away. To transport blocks weighing more than one ton across a mile of open country must have been an extraordinary feat.

A second temple was added to the east in the Tarxien phase (3150 - 2500 BC). It was in a more ruinous state when found, but originally consisted of four apses and a central niche.

Skorba was occupied long before the temples were built. The earliest structure identified on the site is an almost straight length of wall, of which 11m were exposed. This was dated to the Ghar Dalam phase (5000 - 4300 BC). Among the domestic waste found on its north side, which included charcoal and carbonised grain, were several fragments of daub, accidentally baked. In the field east of the Tarxien phase temple, a much more extensive structure came to light. It consisted of two rooms dated to the Red Skorba phase (4400 - 4100 BC). The irregularity of the floors and the absence of hearths seem to preclude the site's domestic use. The group of figurines found in the northern room, now on display at the National Museum of Archaeology, suggest that this building had a religious function. It may be considered then a true predecessor of the temples which first appeared some centuries later.

A number of huts were also found to the West of the earlier temple. Eleven coralline limestone querns were found in one of these huts, dating to the Ggantija phase. Flint and chert objects, as well as obsidian from the Italian Islands of Lipari and Pantelleria were also found at this site. (c) Heritage Malta