Heritage Malta has presented awards to 14 primary and secondary school students for their artistic and literary entries in a competition organised to mark the 25th anniversary of Unesco’s listings of Malta’s megalithic temples as World Heritage Sites.

The competition focused on both drawings/paintings and short-essay writing. The drawings/paintings had The Temple Builders as their theme and was aimed at primary school students. The short essay competition was aimed at secondary school students and its focus was the importance and value of Malta’s World Heritage Sites.

In all, Heritage Malta received some 150 submissions from three schools, namely De La Salle College, the Convent of the Sacred Heart Foundation and Dun Salv Portelli Primary School in Gozo. Three drawings, selected on the basis of their accuracy and attention to detail, won the artists a year’s family membership to all of Heritage Malta’s sites and museums (excluding the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum) together with a number of Heritage Malta publications.

One student who submitted a short essay was also awarded a family membership card and a number of Heritage Malta publications and a further 10 students were awarded a Certificate of Merit as a sign of appreciation of their achievement.

The prize-giving ceremony was held at Vilhena Palace in Mdina last Friday and the prizes were presented by Heritage Malta’s CEO officer Antoinette Caruana. All the artistic submissions will remain on display in the inner courtyard of Vilhena Palace until 13 August. Admission is free of charge.

This competition was organised in collaboration with Unesco and the Education Ministry.