The oldest piece of literature in Maltese, Pietru Caxaru’s Il-Kantilena, has been nominated for inclusion in Unesco’s world heritage list.

The aim of the list, the International Memory of the World Register, is to conserve documents of value, many of which got lost over time, Malta’s ambassador to Unesco, Mgr Joe Vella Gauci, told a news conference at the Archaeology Museum. It includes some 300 documents from 100 countries.

The recognition of Il-Kantilena will kick off the process for elements of the Maltese language to be recognised as a Living World Heritage in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Il-Kantilena was written in medieval Maltese around 1450. It was found in 1966 by Godfrey Wettinger and Fr Mikiel Fsadni.

The original document is at the Notarial Archives in Valletta.

Culture Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said that the structure of the Notarial Archives was crying for restoration and he was pushing the government to allocate funds for the purpose.

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