The Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit
The Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit
The location of the Maltese Island in the Central Mediterranean has created an inextricable link between the island archipelago and the maritime history of the Mediterranean. Malta’s human story stretches back over 7,500 years and is echoed in the archaeologically rich landscape of the islands. Millennia of human activity are also reflected on the seabed surrounding Malta and Gozo, ranging from a 2,700-year-old Phoenician shipwreck, Roman and Early Modern shipwrecks, to dozens of aircraft crash sites, submarines, and battleships from both World Wars. This diversity and unique range of underwater cultural heritage sites has made Malta the curator for a uniquely well-preserved cultural resource that is global in nature and belongs to all humankind. A distinctive characteristic of Malta’s underwater cultural heritage sites is their deep-water location which ensures site preservation. These historic wrecks are also ecological havens attracting a variety of marine flora and fauna and turning an otherwise barren seabed into a hotspot of marine biodiversity.
The Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU) was set up within Heritage Malta in 2019 to regulate access to historic underwater sites, to promote Malta’s underwater cultural heritage locally and internationally, and to preserve the island’s unique underwater cultural heritage. Divers from all over the world are now able to access historic wreck sites, and for those that prefer to remain on dry land, the virtual museum allows anyone, anywhere, to virtually explore Malta’s underwater world.
Photos: John Wood
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