Tours of San Pawl Milqi

On the occasion of the feast of St Paul on Thursday Heritage Malta will be organising guided tours to the archaeological site of San Pawl Milqi in Burmarrad.

The tours will be held on Thursday at 11.15 a.m. 2 p.m., and 3.30 p.m. They will offer visitors the chance to get to know more about the historic and archaeological relevance of the site.

Entrance to the site will only be possible by attending such tours. Fee for adults is Lm2 and for children under 12 is 50c.

Each tour will be limited to a maximum of 35 persons and booking is strictly on a first-come first-served basis. To book call Heritage Malta's head office on 2295 4000 or 2295 4307.

Mass will celebrated at the chapel of San Pawl Milqi on Thursday at 9 a.m. to mark the feast of St Paul.

The site of San Pawl Milqi shows evidence of a prehistoric settlement from the Neolithic Period (c.4100-3800BC) to the Bronze Age Period (c.2500-700BC).

The remains, situated next to and underneath the 17th century chapel dedicated to St Paul, are by far the largest and best preserved remains of a Roman villa in Malta.

The villa consisted of a residential area and another section that was intended for agricultural purposes.

Excavations have revealed tools such as an olive-pipper and huge rectangular blocks of stone that indicate that the main activity was the crushing of olives for the extraction of olive oil.

Excavations on the site began in the 1960s by an Italian archaeological mission. A new research project on San Pawl Milqi was initiated in 2000.