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From the outside, Bir Mula Heritage appears to be a typical Maltese town house. The main attractions of the house are its architecture and its collection of artefacts not normally found in museums. The site had rendered artefacts from Neolithic times and the Bronze Age suggesting that the spot was already inhabited or frequented by humans. Re-excavated in 1997 when the building was being restored to its original splendour by the Vella family museum founders and owners, the lower storey must have started as a farmhouse in ancient times and was used as such until the medieval Arab era.
The way the house is structured, the stones and the stone-dressing tell a story in themselves. Different storeys and rooms were accessible to different social classesand different genders. Different spaces had specific functions such as the kitchen, the birthing room, the butler’s room, the chapel and the piano nobile. The people who inhabited or worked in the house also left their presence felt through the graffiti found in various stones. These include wind roses, a Turkish janissary, maritime vessels, coat-of-arms of Grand Masters, ancient script and symbols used by the Knights Templar.
A number of myths,some of which backed by documents and tangible evidence,are linked with this house. Among these are the holding of meetings between the Ottomans and the Knights’ envoys in 1565, Grand Master La Valette’s use of the house, preliminary meetings prior to electing a new Grand Master, secret plotting against the Napoleonic French army in 1798 and the consequent ransacking, with part of the house being set on fire.
After surviving the fierce air bombings of World War II, the house thrived as a residence till it was converted into a museum. Since then, in addition to functioning as a museum and tourist attraction, Bir Mula Heritage house has become a venue for various cultural, educational and social events. Some of them can be viewed on the website or social media of the museum.
Opens: Saturdays and Sundays: 10.00 – 12.00 hrs or by appointment.
Admission: By donation (except for certain events).
How to find us: on Google Maps
Contact Information
Bir Mula Heritage, 79, St. Margerita Street, Bormla (Cospicua), Malta, BML 1317.
Tel.: (00356)- 21826910, -21826427 Mobile: (00356)-99273276
Email: [email protected] Website: www.birmula.com Facebook: Bir Mula
Contact: Mr. John Vella – Director Curator
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