Bir Mula Heritage

About the museum

Bir Mula Heritage occupies a historic house on St Margerita Hill, one of the five hills of Bormla (Cospicua) above the Grand Harbour. Excavations on the site brought to light chert tools, red ochre, Neolithic sling stones, animal and marine bones and pottery, which show that settlers lived here in prehistoric times; later stonework, graffiti and pottery point to a shrine or cult place of the Punic period, and people continued to live on the spot through the Roman era.

The way the house is built and its stones are dressed tell the story of its development. Different floors and rooms were used by different social classes and by men and women, and rooms such as the kitchen or the birthing room had specific functions, although these changed over the centuries. Inhabitants and workers left graffiti on the stones, including wind roses, galleons, a Turkish soldier and symbols linked to the Knights Templar. Local legends tell of meetings between Ottomans and Knights in 1565 and of secret gatherings in the cellar.

The collection begins with the finds from the site itself and continues with objects donated by friends and visitors, curiosities of past times and photographs, from a stone tool to an item of the Second World War. The house also has a multi-purpose hall and a cafeteria.

Highlights

• Archaeological finds from the site, from chert tools to Neolithic sling stones
• Wall graffiti: galleons, wind roses, an Ottoman soldier and Templar symbols
• Cellar linked to local legends of the Great Siege of 1565
• Collection of curiosities, photographs and donated objects

Permanent exhibition

• The house and its collection – Archaeological finds from the site, graffiti in the stone walls, a collection of curiosities and photographs in a house that shows how Maltese houses developed over the ages.

Operated by

John Vella (private)

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

• Café

The house has a multi-purpose hall and a cafeteria.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

The multi-purpose hall can be used for events, and the house for film and television shoots and for exhibitions by artists and photographers.

Plan your visit