Heritage Malta today formallyacquired a unique collection of antique maps of Malta which was built over a period of 50 years by lawyer and historian Dr Albert Ganado. The acquisition was made following an agreement signed today between Dr Ganado and the ggovernment. By means of this agreement the map collection was passed to the ggovernment in return for the house, which was public property, where Dr Ganado lives. The acquisition of the priceless collection was approved by Parliament during a sitting held on July 14^th.

The maps will be kept in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta. They will not be put on permanent display but will be exhibited during specific exhibitions.

The map collection which is to be known as “The Albert Ganado Map Collection” is the largest and most complete collection of antique maps of Malta in the world. The manuscript maps are unique and many of the maps are very rare and are not found on the market. The Ganado collection is probably the only one that shows the development of certain representations of the Maltese islands such as the Great Siege of 1565 and the plans of Valletta.

“These Great Siege maps are of great importance as some of them were printed whilst the siege was in progress to disseminate the news in Europe particularly in Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands,” Heritage Malta said.

The collection consists of 19 manuscript maps, and 431 printed maps made between 1507 and 1899. Many of the maps were made before 1570 when Abraham Ortelius published the first standard Atlas. Most of these maps were printed as single sheets and only a few of them are left. Some are found only in the Ganado collection.