Heritage Malta Completes the Digital Acquisition of Limestone Monuments at the Domvs Romana, Malta, 22nd of July, 2025
Description
On the 22nd of July 2025, the Digitisation Department, in collaboration with the curatorial team at Heritage Malta carried out scanning work at the Domvs Romana in Rabat as part of the Horizon Europe STECCI project. This international research initiative focuses on developing sustainable protection strategies for limestone heritage sites facing the pressures of climate change.
On site, the team completed a full digital scan of the Domvs using aerial photogrammetry and handheld terrestrial photogrammetry, capturing the outdoor archaeological areas in detail. Alongside the site-wide model, the team also digitised four individual limestone monuments previously examined during conservation and chemical studies within STECCI, focusing on climate impacts on outdoor limestone.
The Domvs Romana was selected as one of Malta’s case studies in the project due to its unique vulnerability to environmental change. Exposed to hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, its outdoor structures provide crucial data on how fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and atmospheric conditions contribute to stone surface erosion, biological growth, and structural weakening. By documenting these effects, the project supports the development of conservation strategies that will benefit not only Malta’s limestone heritage, but also comparable monuments across Europe.
Situated between Mdina and Rabat, the Domvs Romana is among Malta’s most significant archaeological sites. Constructed before the beginning of the 1st century BC, it functioned as an aristocratic Roman townhouse adorned with fine polychrome mosaics, a colonnaded peristyle, and elaborate water systems. Excavations have uncovered statues, coins, glassware, and other artefacts that shed light on the lifestyle of Malta’s Roman elite. In later centuries, the area became a Muslim cemetery, with over 245 burials, some marked by tombstones inscribed in Naskh and Kufic script, underscoring the site’s long and multi-layered history.
The Domvs Romana is today a protected heritage site under Heritage Malta’s care. As both custodian and research partner within STECCI, Heritage Malta plays a dual role: safeguarding the integrity of this nationally important monument while contributing to European-level research into the conservation of limestone heritage. The digital documentation carried out this summer ensures that the Domvs is represented within the STECCI dataset, supporting comparative analysis across multiple countries and strengthening efforts to address the challenges of climate change on cultural heritage.