Bid to save fifth century catacombs from decay
Joint venture between Din L-Art Helwa and Heritage Malta
A total of Lm8,000 will be invested over the next year "to save" the fifth century Abbatija tad-Dejr catacombs in Rabat from a "depressing tale of neglect and cultural vandalism".
Din L-Art Helwa's executive president, Martin Galea, said the catacombs, which have seen Maltese history for almost 1,500 years, recently suffered "all the indignity and disgrace of abandonment, poor development, graffiti and dumping".
"Today Abbatija tad-Dejr serves as an irrelevant piazza in a building area which should never have been sanctioned around such an important site. The soil and trees placed over it have damaged the interiors and, indeed, the frescoes have since been removed to the Museum of Fine Arts," he said.
Din L-Art Helwa has teamed up with Heritage Malta to bring Abbatija tad-Dejr back to its former state. Speaking during the signing of a collaboration agreement yesterday, Heritage Malta chairman Mario Tabone said the two entities had the same interest: giving a future to our past, which had been abandoned for years.
This is the first joint venture between the two entities and Dr Tabone said others could be explored in the future.
Mr Galea expressed his satisfaction that at last something was being done to save one of the earliest local Christian monuments. "We cannot rectify the surroundings, what is built is built, but we can look after the monument itself," he said, adding that the aim of both Din L-Art Helwa and Heritage Malta was to conserve and protect this part of the patrimony for everyone to admire and study.
"There is now awareness that we must save our heritage. This is mainstream and not felt by an elite few as it once was. Malta has many, many important monuments which languish unprotected and it is in partnerships like this that we can make a difference. But we must move quickly and resolutely before more is lost," he said.
Dr Tabone stressed the importance of increasing people's awareness on the importance of conserving Malta's heritage. He said that although in the past years awareness has increased during the past weeks the country has suffered a spate of acts of vandalism targeting the heritage.
"This is an outrage," he said, adding that awareness would increase social resistance to such acts.
Abbatija tad-Dejr, which features Byzantine and Latin influence in its wall paintings and iconography, was revitalised after the Muslim occupation. Part of it was later transformed into a monastery, where monks would pray in their cells, Mr Galea explained.