Heritage

Inside the secret passageway where bones were found in the Church of St Gregory, Żejtun. Photo: Wirt Iż-Żejtun

Scientists are close to resolving the mystery of Żejtun's passage of bones

Folklore has long suggested people were killed in a 1614 Ottoman raid

August 19, 2021| Jessica Arena |7
Inset: Joe Chetcuti

Keeping the festa spirit alive

This year’s feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, with its low-key celebrations held across the islands, may be well and truly over but Joe Chetcuti can continue to keep the festa spirit alive at his home thanks to a miniature church. The model has a...

August 18, 2021| Stephanie Fsadni |0
Torri Lanzun, San Ġwann. Photos: Kappa Vision

The photographer documenting Maltese heritage, one streetscape at a time

Jean-Paul Borg has turned his Kappa Vision project into a full-time job

August 17, 2021| Stephanie Fsadni |10
The Predjama Castle, a Renaissance construction built within a cave mouth near Postojna. Photos: Jure Makovec/AFP

Discovering Slovenia's underground labyrinths, one cave at a time

The tiny Alpine nation is unusually rich in caves

August 16, 2021| AFP |0

New Treasures from Malta episode

Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti has launched the eighth episode of the podcast series Treasures from Malta. In this episode, Francesca Balzan has a conversation with antiques collector and founder of Casa Rocca Piccola, Marquis Nicholas de Piro, about his...

August 16, 2021| Times of Malta |0
Heavy machinery metres away from protected Punic-Roman Tower at Tal-Wilġa. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Protected Punic-Roman tower becomes a construction site

Tal-Wilġa is one of six Punic-Roman towers in Malta.

August 15, 2021| Kristina Abela |50
One of the projects supported by the Melita Foundation is the conservation of Matteo Perez D’Aleccio’s Great Siege wall painting cycle, located in Valletta’s Grandmaster’s Palace.

Undeterred by COVID-19

Melita Foundation supports 45 new projects among voluntary organisations

August 15, 2021| Times of Malta |0
Before and after after restoration: The control operation room. Photo: Malta Airport Foundation

Before and after: Malta's World War II nerve centre restored

Hidden maps revealed during €340,000 works

August 13, 2021| Times of Malta |11
Volunteers from Birdlife Malta harvesting salt at the Salina salt pans. Photos: Jonathan Borg

Volunteers worth their salt revive Salina tradition

An estimated 5, 6 tonnes of Maltese salt produced from just one salt pan

August 13, 2021| Jessica Arena |43
Malta gets a new diving wreck, the AFM P-33 patrol boat Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Malta's latest underwater attraction: a former army patrol boat

AFM boat P-33 scuttled off Żonqor Point in bid to attract scuba diving tourism

July 31, 2021| Giulia Magri |22
An old Maltese bus.

A National Archive initiative that will foster a richer collective memory

Time cannot be saved in a bottle but some things, tangible or intangible, can. When they are, they usually make for a gripping narrative of aspects of life in the past that ‘progress’ or modern-day needs have made redundant or killed. Any initiative...

July 31, 2021| Times of Malta |5
Photo: Heritage Malta

HMS Nasturium wreck site cleaned of nets, discarded fishing gear

Project carried out by Heritage Malta, Atlam

July 30, 2021| Times of Malta |1
Work is under way to develop Malta as a ‘mecca’ for responsible wreck diving. Inset: Timothy Gambin

Malta to take a deeper dive into its underwater heritage

UNESCO convention ratification 'positive step forward for cultural heritage'

July 25, 2021| Fiona Galea Debono |14

Investing in our heritage

It is perhaps part of human nature to lose sight of the rich architectural and historic value of the many landmark buildings across the Maltese islands afforded by our rich history. After all, we drive or walk past them so often, usually when we are in...

July 25, 2021| Raymond Andrew Ellul
Hagia Sophia. Photo: Shutterstock

UNESCO asks Turkey for report on Hagia Sophia after mosque change

The World Heritage Committee of the UN's cultural agency UNESCO on Friday asked Turkey to submit by early next year a report about the state of conservation of the Hagia Sophia, expressing "grave concern" over the consequences of its conversion into a...

July 23, 2021| AFP |9
Ħajt tas-Sejjieħ by Kyle Darmanin and the collective

Contested borders

No Ordinary Terrain at MUŻA tests the border between private and public space, looking at land appropriation and occupation A broom hovers hesitantly around the perimeter of a mound of confetti-like paper on the floor of one of the corridors of MUŻA,...

July 23, 2021| Warren Bugeja|0
Photo: AFP

Great Barrier Reef avoids UNESCO 'in danger' listing

Australia on Friday avoided having the Great Barrier Reef listed as an endangered world heritage site by UNESCO, despite extensive climate change-fuelled damage to the ecosystem's corals. After a concerted lobbying effort by Canberra, members of the...

July 23, 2021| Times of Malta |2
File photo: Times of Malta

Today's front pages - July 23, 2021

The top stories in Malta's newspapers on Friday

July 23, 2021| Times of Malta |0
An AFP photo taken last month showing tugboats escorting the MSC Orchestra cruise ship across the basin past the Bell Tower and the Doge's palace as it leaves Venice.

Venice dodges UNESCO endangered listing after big ship ban

Venice avoided being named a world heritage site in danger by UNESCO on Thursday, just weeks after Italy moved to ban large cruise ships from sailing into the city centre.  The city has been on UNESCO's heritage list since 1987, but the UN body warned...

July 22, 2021| AFP |3
Photo: Anthony Fenech via Facebook

Heritage watchdog halts Central Link works near Wignacourt Aqueduct

Concerns raised after excavators appeared and started digging

July 22, 2021| Jessica Arena |49
Customers place orders at the iconic Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. The eatery was opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali and is considered a landmark of DC's African American history and culture. Photos: Eva Hambach/AFP

Black American chefs want credit for legacy of innovation

Slavery permanently transformed US culinary landscape

July 19, 2021| AFP |0
Visitors’ noise and activity acts as deterrent for pests at Malta’s prehistoric sites.

COVID-19 closures let animals damage prehistoric sites, study finds

Important role of open-air sites within local community demonstrated

July 19, 2021| Fiona Galea Debono |6
The Ġgantija Temples date back to between 3600 and 3200 BC.

Another apartment block application in Ġgantija Temples’ buffer zone

Plans face objections from council and cultural watchdog

July 19, 2021| Jessica Arena |25
An aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands, along the central coast of Queensland. Photo: AFP

China and Australia clash over adding Great Barrier Reef to UNESCO list

'Australia should protect world heritage sites instead of making allegations'

July 18, 2021| AFP |5
The restored church cupola in all its glory. Photo: Curia

Cupola paintings at Birkirkara's St Elena church restored

Restoration of eight paintings by Virginio Monti unveiled

July 18, 2021| Times of Malta |1
The 400-year-old palazzo, a prominent corner building in Old Bakery Street, Valletta, was the 17th-century home of Grand Master Gregorio Carafa. Photos: Chris Sant Fournier

Valletta palazzo’s restoration approved

A protection order was issued to safeguard a viewing gallery at Palazzo Carafa

July 14, 2021| Matthew Xuereb |1
The cart ruts on the site earmarked for development. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Mtarfa: Developer makes fresh bid to build on cart ruts

Cultural heritage watchdog strongly objects to new plans

July 13, 2021| Matthew Xuereb |41
Demand for lacemaking in Malta surged during the baroque period. Photo: Heritage Malta

International Lace Day at Inquisitor’s Palace

Heritage Malta is celebrating International Lace Day – observed worldwide on July 11 – with an event at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa. Lacemaking was mastered in Malta centuries ago but the craft was given a huge boost with the arrival of the...

July 6, 2021| Times of Malta |1
The remains of the monument. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli. Inset: the cross prior to the vandalism

Historic Mellieħa cross destroyed in act of vandalism

Is-Salib tal-Pellegrini is said to have been built in 1776

July 5, 2021| Jessica Arena |80
A University of Malta student taking part in the project studying the Standing Statue at the National Museum of Archaeology.

University students create audio material for museum artefacts

Three items at the National Museum of Archaeology given audio description texts

June 30, 2021| Times of Malta |0