Notarial Archives

The Notarial Archives were established by Grand Master Giovanni Paolo Lascaris through an instrument dated 10 July 1640. The first archivist was Salvatore Ciantar. The archives suffered severe damage during World War II. In April 1942, the building they were housed in received two direct hits from aerial bombardment, and about 2,000 volumes were destroyed or damaged. In December 1945, the archives were moved to their present location at 24, St Christopher Street, and in 1968 the original acts were moved to a property in Mikiel Anton Vassalli Street while the copies were retained at St Christopher Street. By the early 21st century, they were in a dilapidated state and the collections were suffering from significant degradation. Since then, significant efforts have been made to preserve and digitise the archives' collection. ==Facilities==

The Notarial Archives are housed within two buildings in Valletta. This facility houses copies of the original documents, and notaries are not obliged to submit true copies of documents to this archive since they are allowed to keep them themselves. ==Collection==

'', the oldest known text in the Maltese language, which is preserved at the Notarial Archives The Notarial Archives contain over 20,000 registers which contain notarial records and other historic documents. Other notable documents held at the Notarial Archives include a number of 15th and 16th century documents relating to Gozo before the raid of 1551 in which the island's records were destroyed, ==Research==

The archives are important for both legal and historical research. Services provided by the archives are subject to the following fees: inspection of a notarial act costs €0.60, and making copies costs €0.70 per page for informal photocopies and €1.20 per page for legal photocopies. The archives are also used for historical research since they are a primary source about life in Malta from the 15th century to the present day, ==Preservation and digitisation==

Following many years of neglect, efforts are currently being made to preserve and digitise the Notarial Archives' collection. In 2010, an agreement was signed between the Malta Study Center of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) which led to the digitisation of some 16th century notarial volumes, some of which are now available online on the HMML website. A project to catalogue early 19th century acts of British notaries in Malta began in 2013. In August 2013, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, finance minister Edward Scicluna and parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici visited the archives, and Abela described it as "mother of all archives" but said that its collections' poor state made it "Malta's national monument of shame". Abela took a leading role in safeguarding the archives, along with a team of professionals and volunteers. The Notarial Archives Foundation was also set up in order to safeguard the archives and create awareness about their existence. The Notarial Archives began various collaborations with the University of Malta, including a project with the Department of Artificial Intelligence which led to the establishment of a research tool known as NotaryPedia in 2018. In mid-2018, a rehabilitation project of the archives' premises at St Christopher Street began. The project aims to convert it into a conservation hub, which would include a laboratory and a research centre, lecture and conference rooms, a small museum and visitor centre. Apart from the restoration of the building, the project also involves the disinfestation and conservation of the archives' collections. The exhibition Parallel Existences was held between 5 October and 3 November, exhibiting photographs by Alex Attard of fragments of documents from the Notarial Archives which had become deformed into sculpture-like forms over time. As of 2019, the Notarial Archives is undertaking a process of digitising its collection so as to protect the information contained within its collection from potential damage or destruction. A list of notaries whose wills and inter vivos are found in the Notarial Archives is available on the archives' website. ==References==