Calypso works come with souvenir shop, raising watchdog’s eyebrows

Stabilisation plans to protect Gozo’s fabled Calypso cave are making way for a new souvenir shop and interpretation centre, raising the eyebrows of the heritage watchdog.

The plans also foresee a 44sq.m interpretation centre that will include a souvenir shop, new walkways, and sanitary facilities on the promontory overlooking Ramla l-Ħamra.

But the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage expressed concern on what it described as the “intensification of development at this location”.

Requesting a justification for the proposed works, the SCH insisted that the area was deriving its value “primarily from its relatively pristine condition”, which it said should be kept.

The site footprint is also scheduled as a Site of Archaeological Importance.

Contacted by MaltaToday a Gozo Ministry spokesperson defended the proposed works, describing Calypso’s cave as a popular tourist destination not only visited for the cave itself, but for the panoramic view of Ramla Bay from the promontory within which this cave is located.

The ministry said recent rock instability had led to the collapse of part of the cave, necessitating the cordoning-off of the cave and the adjacent viewing platform, as the rock was deemed to be dangerous to visitors.

The works are primarily intended to consolidate the friable rock face to remove the existing danger and making Calypso Cave accessible again, while also providing an improved visitor’s experience.

But the ministry insists that the visitor’s interpretation centre will be replacing the old sanitary facilities which are already onsite.

“As Ministry for Gozo we are entrusted to safeguard the historical and cultural aspect of Gozo. That is why an application has been submitted to the Planning Authority to carry out the necessary intervention to preserve this historical site.”