Opinion | Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Discovering our real attractions

Julian Zarb

Last week I attended the inauguration of the restoration of Malta’s oldest pharmacy in Rabat. The site is part of the building known as the “Santo Spirito Hospital” that was used until 1967 and which dates back to the 16th Century. The pharmacy had been used right up to the time that this hospital was closed and had become a store room for the National Archives. Through the initiative of one man, ex member of Parliament and speaker, Michael Bonnici, this store room was restored to its original state and the purpose is to create an interesting attraction where students, academics and anyone interested in the island’s medical history, could visit. The past six months have meant hard work and determination by Michael, who insisted on doing all the manual labour as well as the item cataloguing himself. What I witnessed last Thursday was no ordinary inauguration; it meant the preservation of an important element of our past – one should consider these sites as places that can tell a hundred stories (in some cases, I would think even thousands) and it is those stories that can add value to the building, the architecture and the note books and equipment. There are families on these islands who can remember their grandparents and relatives describing their own experiences of a visit to a doctor, a hospital or even to this hospital in Rabat! If we manage to put all these experiences together then the attractiveness of sites such as the Santo Spirito become places we can relate to, markers we can identify with people we knew.
There are a number of living history experiences around the world, but one particular example I came across last year, when I was visiting Berlin, was the museum next to the old checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie, it has been called)which presents the feelings and determination of the East Germans under Soviet domination. It is not only a display of photos and items from 50 years ago, it is a display that shows the thoughts and real experiences of people – just like you and me – who simply wanted freedom, freedom to travel, freedom to buy what they chose, freedom to be themselves instead of blank faced robots..this is the real example of how travel and tourism can teach us about our past.
For many, the Santo Spirito is nothing but a dim memory, for others it is not even a memory and for others it has always been the National Archives. But this passageof time has helped to build stories, sometimes even legends about what may have occurred at sites. I am reminded here of the stories from Rabat during the pre war and war years as described by Herbert Ganado in his autobiographical work, Rajt Malta Tinbidel.
Let me take you on a little trip now, imagine of you will:
A walking tour of Rabat that takes in the narrow, winding streets of the old town, the mystery of the grotto beneath the Church of St. Paul, the serenity of the old convents, the treasures of the islands’ religious heritage at the Wignacourt Musuem and the archeological remains including the catacombs and finally the visit to the Pharmacy – the tour will not only highlight the architecture and plan of the town but it will describe some of the people – famous or otherwise – who walked the same route; some for work, some for education, some to visit friends – the visit could include some descriptions in their own words…that is real living history, that is what will create an attraction, it does not take millions of euros to discover our real attractions, all it takes is a sense of pride in our own living history which adds that colour to an, otherwise, grey scenario!

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