The country was yesterday morning stunned by the news that the Azure Window in Dwejra had collapsed. Practically everyone has been to that landmark site, a major attraction on the sister island that has decorated numerous tourist brochures and books. Many have a personal recollection of the place, maybe a fond memory, and very probably a photo standing in front of the natural ‘window’.

The fact that the fallen rock has all been engulfed by the sea makes the event ever more total and complete.

The Azure Window is no more.

Believed to have been created when two limestone sea caves collapsed, the window was a must-see for any visitor to Gozo. It was frequently in the news recently, often for the wrong reasons. There were fears that its arch, consisting of upper coralline limestone and blue clay limestone, had become fragile with erosion. An emergency order was issued and harsh fines introduced for any trespassers on the window. However, until a few days ago, people were still being photographed on top of the arch. They were in all sorts of danger standing up there but, clearly, in no danger of getting fined.

In the end, it was not the arch that collapsed but the pillar holding up the whole iconic structure and it took place in the stormiest of weathers. Maybe in a sign of things to come, during another storm in January, rough seas broke off a large slab at the base of the window.

Upon hearing the news, people yesterday flocked to the scene to find a changed landscape. There was nothing they could do. Nature had been there before them and its decision was final.

The collapse of the window does not bring an end to the attractions found at Dwejra, which will surely remain on the tourist itinerary. There is still, after all, the inland sea, the boat trips and the Blue Hole, much sought after by divers in Gozo. And only a short distance away there is Il-Ġebla tal-General (the General’s Rock), a small islet some 60 metres high, popularly thought to be the place where the Knights of Malta discovered the Malta Fungus, which they believed contained medicinal properties.

However, the recent announcement that the Dwejra site has unique qualities that merit Unesco recognition may now be called into question.

A committee of experts had been set up and allocated some €200,000 to carry out studies for Dwejra to be considered a UN World Heritage site. If that initiative is discontinued, there is still much more that needs to be done to turn the ‘new’ Dwejra into a quality tourist attraction rather than the bazaar it sometimes resembles during peak tourist months.

Sad as the demise of the window may be, there is no way of changing the ways of nature and, as far as is known, this could not have been prevented. Nature gave, and nature took. But what of that which nature has not taken?

Clearly, the one tragic incident of yesterday is dwarfed by the rampant destruction of built and natural heritage that the country has had to witness over the past decades. There is no Mother Nature to blame for the blatant, irresponsible ruination of the country’s rich heritage. It is human greed that is behind much of what the country has lost and not Mother Nature.

It is the one lesson that can be drawn from yesterday’s unfortunate event. Where possible, we can stop it from happening elsewhere.

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