Be the first to comment!35,000 visit Heritage Malta sites and museums on Open Day
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Sunday was a record breaking day for Heritage Malta as around 35,000 people visited the sites and museums in its care during an Open Day held as part of the agency’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
The Open Day was held to mark the beginning of the 10th anniversary celebrations since the setting-up of Heritage Malta as the national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. In all, 22 sites were open to the public for free with about 35,000 people taking the opportunity to visit these national treasures.
With the sites and museums opening their gates at 9am, one could immediately see that the day was going to be a very busy one with people at certain sites queuing even before opening time.
The most popular sites on the day were the Palace Armoury and the State Rooms at the Grandmaster’s Palace with 3863 and 3650 visitors respectively, closely followed by the Domvs Romana in Rabat with 3270 visitors.
A number of Maltese also went to Gozo purposely to visit the sites on the sister island with the most popular site in Gozo being Ggantija Temples.
The success of this Open Day follows that held at Hagar Qim, Mnajdra and the Domvs Romana in March and anticipates the next Open Day at the Malta Maritime Museum on the 19th of May. The event in May, entitled “Life at Sea,” will be held on occasion of the World Maritime Day which is being held in Malta. Such open days are only one means through which Heritage Malta renders culture accessible to all, including temporary exhibitions, lectures, heritage trails, conferences, educational programmes, and publications.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and Local Government, Dr. José Herrera visited Tarxien Temples during the Open Day, where he was given a tour of the site, and also exchanged views with visitors on-site. Heritage Malta Acting CEO Kenneth Gambin and senior curator Katya Stroud briefed Dr. Herrera on the works that were concluded in this site.
They also indicated the on-going archaeological work that is being carried out in preparation for the erection of a shelter which will cost around €2.3 million and that will eventually cover most of the site. This will help to protect the temple from the elements which have a negative effect on the structure.
