Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1426475
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 NOVEMBER 2021 4 HERITAGE Knights-era cisterns and Second World War The public can now visit underground cisterns built by the Knights of St John and Second World War shelters on Wednesdays and Sundays A visit to the capital city may now be enhanced by experiencing Under- ground Valletta, a newly launched Heritage Malta site which sheds light on the different uses of the pas- sageways beneath Valletta along the centuries while enabling visitors to admire the marvellous engineering entailed in the construction of this city. The underground spaces now open to the public consist mainly of the tunnels that provided sani- tary facilities for the new city built by the Knights on Mount Sciber- ras, the wells and cisterns where water was stored hundreds of years ago, and the shelters dug out in the Second World War, where Valletta residents sought refuge during air raids. The Knights used Valletta's un- derground spaces for military pur- poses and for grain storage, but the tunnels were also essential for two other crucial reasons: water and drainage. Both were vital for the city's survival under siege, but also in times of peace. Valletta's water supply was used only once during a siege—when the French were blockaded inside the city by the Maltese, who immedi- ately cut off the water supply from the aqueduct but could do nothing to prevent the French from using the millions of gallons of water stored in Valletta's underground cisterns. Many years later, during the Sec- ond World War, the last important chapter for subterranean Valletta unfolded with the increase of its tunnels and their use as shelters. Thousands spent nights crammed down there, deprived of decent sanitary facilities and sufficient food supplies, spurred on by the hope that another raid raid would soon be over and that they would manage to get out safe and sound. Underground Valletta was offi- cially launched in the presence of Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government José Herrera, and Heritage Malta's top management. Herrera said that Valletta, a World Heritage Site, cannot be fully appreciated without expe- riencing that which lies beneath it. Thanks to Heritage Malta, the public now has the opportunity to experience the capital city more completely and appreciate some of its facets that previously may have been overlooked. Heritage Malta's Chairman, An- thony Scicluna, said that through Underground Valletta, Heritage Malta will be exploring the use of a subterranean resource across two distinct periods – the Knights' rule and World War II during the Brit- ish rule. The curatorial aim is to garner as much knowledge as possible so as to disseminate it in various ways to different audiences. Mario Cutajar, Heritage Malta's Executive Director, said that for today's generations Underground Valletta represents inaccessibility itself due to its very nature, and they can barely imagine that in the early 1940s the Maltese made use of this inaccessible place to shelter from the bombings of the Second World War. Heritage Malta is giving new meaning to accessibility by putting within reach what was previously out of reach. Accessibility is not just ramps and exhibitions but al- so delving behind the scenes of our history to make it available for all. Cutajar remarked that those who built our capital city wasted no re- sources but created cisterns and passageways out of quarries that became the foundations of a city destined to be a world heritage site. Heritage Malta's Chief Executive Officer, Noel Zammit, spoke of Heritage Malta's constant commit- ment towards increasing public ac- cessibility to Malta's heritage. He said that by opening this unique site beneath Valletta, Heritage Malta is offering visitors a more holistic and satisfactory experience of the historic sites within the cap- ital city, as envisaged in the agen- cy's strategy for Valletta. The entrance to Underground Val- letta is in St John Square. Guided tours of the site will commence as of next Sunday, 7th November. There will be four tours per week—two on Wednesdays and two on Sundays. More information about tickets and opening hours may be found at www.heritagemalta.org.