Letters | Sunday, 29 March 2009

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Underground discoveries

Limiting myself to that part of the article by Michael Falzon (Things visible and invisible – 15 March), which deals with underground ‘discoveries’ which stop all development in Malta in the area, I cannot but agree that this approach is too simplistic. Malta is not the only country in the world which has underground historical remains. Rome, Athens and Merida are places where I have seen how such discoveries have been incorporated in developments, under or above ground level. What is required is imagination, and, admittedly, some extra cost to the original project.
By way of example, when the Athens underground railway was being built all historical artefacts found were preserved and later exhibited in a museum forming part of the entrance to the Syntagma underground station. Not only did this bring these hidden treasures to the attention of the public, something which would have been impossible if the underground rail system had been abandoned, but it also educated the public on the various strata through which the digging had taken place and the depth and the locality of the artefacts, thus adding an excellent visual appreciation of Athens’ past way of life.
In Merida, Spain, when the foundations for a museum of Roman remains revealed a Roman road underneath, this was incorporated in the museum by building it on pillars which straddled the road. The same technique was used in Athens for the modern museum at the foot of the Acropolis.

Evarist Saliba
Ta’ l-Ibrag

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