Esplora, Malta’s Interactive Science Centre is an informal educational and recreational facility suited to visitors of all age groups. Esplora is located at Villa Bighi in Kalkara overlooking Malta’s Grand Harbour. The building was formerly used as a hospital by the Royal Navy. It consists of a number of buildings and outdoor spaces which are all interconnected following extensive restoration and development. The primary aim is for visitors to experience science as being fun, exciting, and enjoyable. Visitors are able to engage with science through hands-on interaction amongst other activities. Science is projected as easy to understand and entertaining through a range of workshops, performances, science shows and debates.

Throughout the careful design of the indoor and outdoor spaces, sprawling over 22,000sqm, visitors can see the relevance and the presence of science in their everyday lives. Esplora offers visitors an opportunity to discover and understand science at their own pace through a series of hands-on experiences and phenomena-related exhibits. In this way, the importance of the scientific processes is communicated through questioning, predicting, experimenting, analysing and making conclusions.

Features within Esplora include a Planetarium, an Outdoor Adventure Experience, an Activity Centre as well as interactive exhibition halls catering for every age and interest.The exhibition entitled “Life at Bighi” is housed in the Cot Lift, the entrance to Esplora for visitors arriving by boat to the Esplora jetty, which will be completed within the next 18 months. This exhibition features artefacts and memorabilia pertaining to the years when Villa Bighi was used as a hospital.

The novel hands-on exhibits and unique elements of the Centre, as well as the recreational areas including the EsploraCafé, make Esplora one Malta’s top attractions. Esplora is operated by the Malta Council for Science and Technology and was part financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.