Heritage Malta and Vodafone join forces to preserve Ggantija

Two new lightweight walkways will now take visitors straight into the heart of the temples. The project also includes an interactive digital and virtual tour of Ggantija. The Temples have also been decked out with an environmental monitoring station which measures exposure to environmental elements and the site has been made safer with the installation of a remote security system.

The number of visitors to Ggantija in 2010 reached 142,483 and in the first four months of 2011 Ggantija had the highest visitor numbers for all Heritage Malta sites, amounting to 44,436.

Thanks to the construction of two walkways inside Ggantija, visitors will have full access to the temples. This structure protects the original prehistoric floors whilst providing visitors with better visibility. A number of interpretation panels are incorporated in the railing design so that one has a better understanding of the prehistoric temples and an appreciation of the complex. The walkway also sports LED lighting for safe movement of visitors as well as to light up the temple structure at night.

Another element which will further enhance the visitors’ experience is the Vodafone Ggantija Interactive DVD-ROM which is a digitised version of the site with impressive 360 degrees photography. Images are accompanied by an audio interpretation where archaeology experts give visitors detailed descriptions and interpretations of each of the areas of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Balesh Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Malta said: “We understand that the preservation of historic sites such as Ggantija is extremely costly. Vodafone is proud to be a main contributor to Maltese heritage and through our Foundation we make efforts to contribute back to the community we operate in.  We want to make sure that the Maltese and Gozitans benefit from our commercial presence here.”

Isabelle Vella, Vice-Chairman of Heritage Malta thanked the Vodafone Malta Foundation for its constant support and backing throughout the years. “This is clear evidence that public-private partnerships work and our heritage is reaping benefits from such collaboration. We are thankful that the Vodafone Malta Foundation helped us in providing a better experience to the visitors of the Ggantija temples whilst investing in the protection and management of this World Heritage Site.”