Heritage Malta will be organizing open days at the Gozo Nature Museum and Ghar Dalam Cave in Malta this coming Sunday. The open days are being held in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority to mark World Tourism Day 2010 which this year has the theme Tourism and Biodiversity. Entrance to these two places between 9.00am and 4.30 pm will be free of charge.

Situated behind the Law Courts in the Citadel of Victoria, Gozo, the Natural Science Museum is hosted in a cluster of houses dating back to the early 17th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries the building was used as an inn. The Natural Science Museum extends on two floors and houses collections relating to the Island’s geology, minerals, marine life, insects, local habitats and ecosystems.

Ghar Dalam Cave is an important site as it was here that the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta, some 7,400 years ago, was discovered. The site consists of a cave and a museum. The history of the cave and of the Islands can be decoded from Ghar Dalam’s stratigraphy. The lowermost layers, more than 500,000 years old, contained the fossil bones of dwarf elephants, hippopotami, micro-mammals and birds. Above the pebble layer that follows, is the so-called ‘deer’ layer, dated to around 18,000 years ago. The top layer, or ‘cultural layer’, dates to less than 10,000 years and holds evidence of the first humans on the Island.

Another event will be held on Tuesday 28 September, allowing participants to watch the Cory’s shearwater as they approach land to visits their nests. This event will start at 6.30 pm and will finish at 8.00 pm. Those wishing to take part in this event are asked to kindly contact Ms Judy Camilleri on 22954312 during office hours or by sending an email to judy.camilleri@gov.mt.

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