The Żurrieq parish church archive : the documentation of an unknown ecclesiastical heritage asset

Abstract

This project deals with a archive found in one of the oldest parishes of the Maltese Islands that as yet has not been properly documented and researched. The Parish of Zurrieq has been in existence before 1436 and is in possession of a number of documents which, if properly documented and preserved, may reveal substantial information regarding the history and developments of the Parish, as well as an insight of the way of life of our ancestors. The aims of this project include an analysis of the documents found m this archive, an overview analysis of the state of these documents and the way they are provided, the creation of a detailed list including an appropriate coding system, the introduction of the concept of digitisation and the proposal of a strategy on how this archive could be organised and made more accessible. These documents were studied together with their current storage state. Currently, the documents are located in two different locations: the older documents (about 150 bound volumes) are located at the parish church, whereas the rest (about 400) are located at the parish priest's office. On studying these documents it was noted that the ones located at the parish church are suffering from insect infestation and are located in a room which is used for other activities. The documents situated at the parish priest office are stored haphazardly leading to damage being incurred.