My visit to the Roman Domus outside Mdina on Tuesday morning has offered me another occasion to highlight the inevitable synergy that needs to be constantly emphasised between culture and tourism. Heritage Malta is doing its best to ensure that reliving our history becomes an experience that both Maltese people as well as our visitors can go through as easily as possible.

This entity has over the past months been investing no less than Lm180,000 to ensure that when the Roman Domus is reinaugurated by the Prime Minister on February 26, visitors will be better able to understand this interesting part of our history.

As with everywhere else they went, the Romans did leave a clear mark on Malta. The Domus is one of the finest houses pertaining to the Roman era that still exists. It is actually a townhouse of high class, as evidenced by the quality of its mosaics. It lay in what was then the island's capital, now occupied by Mdina and most of Rabat. Other Roman country houses are also known, more or less ruinous, at Birzebbuga and at Ramla Bay, Gozo, where private baths are attached.

Other Roman remains in Malta include baths at Ghajn Tuffieha with well preserved mosaics. By the Marsa racecourse, remains of harbour works, warehouses and the like have been discovered, while from below the sea, we have recovered anchors and wine jars that pertain to the era and that signify their commercial prowess.

Most numerous and best preserved are their tombs. Outside the line of the Roman town wall at Rabat are two large sets of catacombs, known as St Paul's and St Agatha's. These include chapels and halls for the funeral feasts as well as the actual tomb chambers.

Still, the Roman Domus in Rabat undoubtedly remains among the most noteworthy hallmarks of the Roman era in Malta, in particular for its mosaic pavements which rank among the finest and oldest compositions from the western Mediterranean, alongside those of Pompeii and Sicily.

The sitewas discovered by accident in 1881 during a landscaping project on the Saqqajja plateau. Workers engaged in digging holes for trees came across part of a mosaic pavement together with skeletal remains.

This site strategically located between Greeks' Gate, Mdina and Gheriexem Valley in Rabat, uncovered remains dating to the Roman period, from within the ancient city of Melite.

In 1899, although investigations had shown the archaeological importance of this site, a road leading to the new railway station was still constructed. Unfortunately the road cut through the left side of the Roman ruins, destroying a good portion of the Roman remains, presumably even Islamic burials.

This site underwent further investigations between 1920 and 1925 by scientist and archaeologist Sir Themistocles Zammit and his colleagues, Robert V. Galea, Harris Dunscombe Colt and Louis Upton Way. The excavations continued to reveal Islamic burials superimposed on Roman and Phoenician/Punic remains.

Although this site has contributed further to our knowledge of the Roman and Islamic periods on the island, the lack of information kept during the excavations has limited a proper understanding of the site. Future reinvestigations of this area might throw new light on these important remains.

The Museum of Roman Antiquities has been built over this site. This building was one of the first visitor centres to be built in Malta and was erected by 1882 to protect the Roman mosaic floorings that were discovered. Throughout the succeeding years, the museum and in 1906, the first conservation attempts were made on these important mosaics. The museum also housed a collection of various Roman finds of domestic, funerary and agricultural use.

In 1922, plans aimed at improving the appearance of the museum were prepared, but it was not until 1924 that a hall and a suitable entrance in the neo-classical style with a portico and four columns were added on the southern part of the building as you can observe today. The front garden was added later, in 1925, following the termination of excavations on the esplanade.

World War II brought about the closure of the museum in September 1939, and the most important exhibits were transferred to St Paul's Catacombs and stored underground. Although the upper hall of the museum was used by the Malta Home Guard in 1942 as their headquarters, the museum was not damaged during the war and its collection was reinstated and opened once again to the public in April 1945.

Since 1948, no major interventions are reported to have been carried up until 2002, when the museum was closed in order to receive a much-needed facelift and so that the displayed artefacts could undergo conservation. The museum currently displays an interesting selection of Roman artefacts used within the domestic environment such as amphorae, perfume bottles, hairpins, weaving looms as well as spectacular statues that used to adorn the Roman buildings found within the Roman city of Melite.

The Domus Romana in Rabat, on the initiative of Heritage Malta, has undergone a complete reinterpretation and restoration process that has focused on the domestic use of the building. The primary objective is to highlight the authentic elements of the ruins as well as the collection it exhibits and not the reconstructed building. This will just offer the ideal backdrop and setting for the collection. Some of the works carried out for this project include the new installation of all utilities and services, the monitoring of environmental conditions of the site, and the conservation of the mosaics. All wooden external apertures have been replaced in view of keeping the aesthetics created by architect Galizia in the early 20th century.

The structure has been cleaned out of all debris and old plumbing and electricity connections. A new low-voltage electrical system has been installed within the exhibition areas. This will allow for the control of the light lux levels on all exhibits, which will be conserved and presented within climate controlled showcases constructed out of non-toxic material in order to ensure the long-term conservation of the artefacts. A low level structure has been erected upon the roof reflecting the perimeter of the courtyard to ensure that no rain and light infiltration will occur upon the courtyard central mosaic.

The project will also be focusing on the consolidation and integration of the external archaeological site to the visitor centre, including the design of ancillary services. These will feature at the back of the site overlooking the ancient backdrop of the Mtarfa valley that would also provide the link to the other rural archaeological sites in the vicinity.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to all those entities and workers that have over the past three years been working relentlessly to make this project come about. In particular, I would like to thank the highly skilled restorers, conservators and other officials and personnel at the Malta Centre for Restoration within the Ministry for Tourism and Culture for painstakingly seeing to the restoration of all the authentic Roman artefacts that will once again be exhibited at the Domus apart from other work in the Domus itself.

Also deserving a special mention is the Manufacturing and Services' Department of the Works Division within the Ministry of Resources and Infrastructure. This department, more popularly known as il-garaxx tal-Gvern, has over the past years built up an excellent reputation for itself by providing top quality furnishing items that pertain to a whole range of different government projects. Visit any of our old people's homes and it is highly likely that all the furniture that you would see there has been produced by these people. Within the Roman Domus their work includes a wooden elevated flooring for visitors to be able to appreciate the precious mosaic floors without stepping onto them. Their work also includes railings and other fittings that do their skills and reputation further credit.

Other entities that have been involved include CMC (Freeport), Architecture Project, E. Vella and Sons, archaeologists N. Cardona and A. Caselli, A.F. Sign Studio, A.J.F. Attard Ltd, F. Xuereb Instalations Ltd, Avantgarde Ltd, Marsalite Ltd, Mirya Ltd, Bennetti Ltd, C Fino and Sons, FGP Ltd, Dr C. Grech, Scaffolding Services Ltd, Archaeological Services Co-op; Oxford House, De Valier Ltd, Mifsud Joiners Ltd, Bnel Electrical Engineering, C. Mallia, Enemalta Corporation, Firetech Ltd, Alberta Ltd, ITC Ltd, E. Calleja and Sons, and V.J. Salomone.

Heritage Malta co-ordinated and financed the entire project, and the Malta Tourism Authority provided a degree of support. As will be clear on inauguration night, it has been another work of love, dedication and attention to detail as is true of genuine professionals. Heritage Malta are helping us achieve a unique experience - that of reliving our history.

info@franciszammitdimech.com

www.franciszammitdimech.com

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