Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government and Culture, Dr. Jose Herrera, visited Tarxien Temples during the Open Day organised to launch Heritage Malta’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
“The Government has committed itself to give support to such activities and also to be on the forefront to instigate such initiatives. By visiting a historical site like Tarxien Temples, one can notice the effort that is being made in order to conserve our cultural heritage. I would like to emphasise the need to go to such unique places and I am making it my mission to promote such projects amongst local audiences’, Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said during a visit to Tarxien Temples during Heritage Malta’s open day.
During the visit, Dr. Herrera was given a tour of this temple wherein the parliamentary secretary could also exchange views with visitors on-site. It was evident that by mid-morning, the site was already packed with visitors, mostly Maltese visitors. This was also the case in all the twenty two sites which opened their doors free of charge around Malta and Gozo.
Heritage Malta Acting CEO Kenneth Gambin and senior curator Katya Stroud briefed the 
parliamentary secretary on the works that were concluded in this site. They also indicated the on-going archaeological work that is being carried out in preparation for the erection of a shelter which will cost around €2.3 million and that will eventually cover most of the site. This will help to protect the temple from the elements which have a negative effect on the structure. Works already concluded consist of a €300,000 walkway that is directing the visitors in areas which were previously inaccessible and also protecting the original prehistoric floors. Another €90,000 were dedicated for a 3D scan of the temple as a tangible tool to understand better the site and which will eventually become a historical document in itself. This model, together with other similar 3D scans carried out in other sites will be presented later on this year in an exhibition organised as part of Heritage Malta’s 10th anniversary celebrations. All these actions are being funded through a European Regional Development Fund project which incorporates three archaeological sites: Tarxien Temples, Ggantija Temples and St Paul’s Catacombs.
