The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said that the cultural heritage of Malta should be given the importance it deserves. “Heritage and culture are not secondary but they are the heart and the soul of our country.”
President Metsola was visiting the Skorba Temples in Mġarr, together with Mayor
Paul Vella, councilors of the village, representatives of Heritage Malta including Kenneth Gambin and Maria Elena Zammit, and Members of Parliament.
“Temples such as this contribute to our identity, they are a very important part of our country’s heritage and we should do everything possible not only to preserve them, but also to spread information about them – both with Maltese and Gozitan people, and also with tourists. When we start appreciating our heritage more, and protecting it, we realise how much our country is endowed with a priceless
inheritance,” said President Metsola.
The President of the European Parliament said that the European Union recognizes that heritage in European countries must be protected, and will continue to support cultural projects and historical sites, as it has already done in the past. “The heritage of every country is crucial for European values, for what makes us European,” stressed the Maltese MEP.
She remarked that “the heritage that we have to protect varies from temples like these to a niche that can be on a house, or a muxrabija, amongst others. When it comes to historical legacy, the smallest of things are still priceless.”
The Mayor of Mġarr Paul Vella stressed that everyone has the responsibility to protect historical sites like Skorba so that they can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. “There is a need for financial investment to carry out interventions both on an archaeological and structural level of the sites, as well
as on the dissemination of knowledge among all areas of society,” said Mr Vella.
He said that the information about the heritage that exists within the country should be enhanced so that future generations will be able to better appreciate it.
The Mayor of Mġarr presented President Metsola with a copy of the study that Dr David Trump had published about Skorba temple in the 1960s. The book
was published in collaboration with Heritage Malta, with professional photos by the photographer Daniel Cilia.
