Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Temples Conservation and Interpretation Project

Date : 2004
Client : Heritage Malta

View of Hagar Qim Temple Complex.

The conservation of prehistoric megalithic architecture in Malta has long been an issue. Consecutive governments of Malta have placed this theme on the national agenda. No less than six of these architectural structures have been designated with the status of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, two of which are the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temple complexes.

The Project Description Statement for the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Temples Conservation and Interpretation Project, located at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Heritage Park, is a response to a request by Heritage Malta, the National Agency for Museums and Cultural Heritage in Malta. This study had to conform to regulation 5 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2001 (Legal Notice 204 of 2001) issued in virtue of the Development Planning Act, 1992 (Laws of Malta, Chapter 356). Heritage Malta was requested to draft such a report as directed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. The aim of Heritage Malta was to develop within Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Heritage Park, in the limits of Qrendi, a visitor's centre, protective shelters, parking facilities and other features including footpaths. The Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra Heritage Park encompasses a prime archaeological venue of universal importance and should develop into a landmark and point of reference in the management of World Heritage Sites.

Misqa Prehistoric Tanks on the promontory north of Mnajdra Temples.

This Project Description Statement was prepared by Lino Bianco & Associates in collaboration with Heritage Malta with inputs from the architectural partnership led by Architect Walter Hunziker. This study has been cited widely by scholars including authors like Cathrine Woolfit, 'Preventive conservation of ruins: reconstruction, reburial and enclosure' (in John Ashurst, Conservation of Ruins, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007, pp.147-193) and Esther Renwick in her paper presented at the 10th International Seminar of the Network of Universities Forum UNESCO–University and Heritage entitled 'Cultural Landscapes in the 21st Century: Laws, Management and Public Participation: Heritage as a Challenge of Citizenship'.


Click here to download the Project Description Statement.