SPEECH BY MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, DR FRANCIS ZAMMIT DIMECH AT PRESS CONFERENCE BY ON THE REGENERATION OF MDINA BASTIONS AND VILHENA PALACE HELD AT THE WORKS DIVISION, PROJECTS HOUSE FLORIANA

As you might recall, on the occasion of the Seminar held at the Italian Cultural Institute back in February, I mentioned that preparatory works were in hand to launch the initiation of works on the Mdina fortifications particularly the Vilhena Palace area, later on in the year. We are now in a position to announce that, with the assistance of the University of Bologna, and of IRMA project and in collaboration with the Mdina Rehabilitation Committee, the Works Division has started the first phase of the restoration project of the Palace and underlying bastions.

This project is another important milestone, a significant link in the overall strategy which the Restoration Unit with the Works Division has embarked on in the last few years aimed at rehabilitating an invaluable resource of our country, that of the forts and fortifications. This strategy, made possible through continued expert assistance from the University of Bologna and financial backing from the Italian Government, has already reached considerable goals which can be briefly summed up as follows:

the creation of the post of Superintendent of Fortifications, ably occupied by one of the leading researchers on the subject;

the creation of a technical setup and its provision with the methodological and operational knowledge and equipment necessary for the programming and managing of Forts, Fortifications and Historic Buildings on a long term basis;the drawing up of a Heritage Conservation Plan for the Historic Fortifications of the Maltese Islands;

the commissioning of an aerial survey of the fortification system at a scale 1:500, and the restitution to date of the Mdina, Floriana and Valletta areas;

the training of Restoration Unit workers in specialized restoration techniques;

the purchasing of modular aluminium platforms for the efficient carrying out of maintenance works on the bastion ramparts

The project which we are launching this afternoon is therefore natural consequence of the works carried out to date . It is indeed an important milestone, particularly if one had to consider the many decades that the project has been in the pipeline.

Historical Background

The Vilhena Palace is an architectural gem constructed under Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena as his magisterial residence outside Valletta. It forms part of, and partly replaces a building dating back to Grand Master l'Isle Adam, and which was the Courts of Law and the seat of the Municipium. Vilhena Palace, after the departure of the Knights in 1798, was converted successively as a cholera hospital, a home for convalescent patients, and a sanatorium for British troops. It was during this period, that is in the 1860's, that a verandah was added on the St. Paul Bastion. In 1908 the Palace was converted to a tuberculosis hospital known as the Connought Hospital, until its closure in 1956. Parts of the Palace were in 1974 converted to a Natural History Museum. It is also the seat of the Mdina Local Council, and of the Mdina Rehabilitation Committee.

Condition Status

The whole city of Mdina geologically forms part of the Rabat-Dingli plateau, which is topped by a rough crust of upper Coralline Limestone, overlying a layer of Blue Clay. This renders Mdina particularly susceptible to movements. In fact various archival records, dating back to the 1600's, already indicate that various parts of the fortifications were in dire need of restoration. The 1693 earthquake hardly hit Mdina, giving rise to Vilhena's interventions.

The first reports of damage directly related to the palace building date to 1952, leading eventually to parts of the Palace being preventively pulled down, while other rooms collapsed. From this time onwards, various experts, both foreign and local, were asked to study the situation and draw up reports about possible interventions. These, amongst others included an Italian geoelectric firm in 1963, UNESCO experts in 1966 and again in 1978, and most recently, site investigations by Harrison and Company in 1999.

The Project

Although the general overlying problem is now well known, we now have to take the next step which will lead to the consolidation intervention for the Palace. For this reason, thanks to the strong collaboration and relations which the Works Division has over the past few years built up with experts from the University of Bologna, for which I would once again like to publicly thank the continued support of the Italian Government, we are now in a position to carry out a regime of detailed diagnostic studies spread over the next 24 months which will give the necessary information which to date still lacks.

For this reason, the Works Division has commissioned IRMA Project to carry the said diagnosis. Ing. Falci will give more details of the tests which are to be carried out. Since the phenomenon of movements is not only limited to the Vilhena Palace area, we will also be carrying out high precision geometric levelling throughout Mdina to establish the exact magnitude of movements. These will be carried out by experts from the University of Bologna, assisted by technicians from the Restoration Unit.

An interdisciplinary team of experts from the Works Division, the Mdina Rehabilitation Project and the University of Bologna will be meeting regularly to monitor the outcome of results and draw up necessary plans for the eventual intervention.

I will leave it up to my Italian colleagues to give further details on the project.