Heritage Malta this Sunday will be offering the public an opportunity to visit the Museum of Archaeology at the Citadel in Gozo at half price. Visitors will be able to view the Xaghra statuettes a set of so-called ‘stick figurines’ found in the Xaghra Stone Circle.

The Museum is located immediately behind the original gateway to the Citadel in Rabat, Gozo, and is housed in a 17th century townhouse, which was once the residence of the Bondì family. It subsequently fell into disuse and, consequently, remained long neglected until Sir Harry Luke, Lieutenant Governor of the Maltese Islands, took the initiative to restore it in 1937.

In May 1960, Casa Bondì was inaugurated as the first public museum of Gozo hosting artefacts of archaeological as well as of ethnographic nature. The building came to house the archaeological collection in 1986 as part of a reorganisation programme of the Gozo museum collection into separate collections housed in separate buildings in the Citadel.

The museum illustrates chronologically the cultural history of the island of Gozo from prehistoric times to the early modern period.

The Museum’s permanent display is divided into three main sections: Prehistory, the Classical period, and the Medieval and Early Modern periods. The prehistoric display is spread out on several rooms and focuses on a number of themes. The introductory theme is devoted to the geological resources put to use by the prehistoric settlers in creating their dwellings, building their temples, and providing their daily livelihood. In a separate room, implements and containers are shown as indispensable items used by prehistoric man in his daily struggle for survival.

The museum is open daily from 9.00am to 5.00pm with the last admission at 4.30pm. The museum is closed on the 24th, 25th and 31st December as well as on January 1st and on Good Friday.

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