It is now two weeks since the Gibraltar National Museum launched its Virtual Museum on social media, and it has been a great success.

Over 64 thousand people saw the posts published on Facebook and over 40 thousand engaged with the posts. The number of page followers increased by almost 800 with close to 4,700 on 14th April. Just over 66% of these are from Gibraltar with others from Lisbon, London and then the cities and towns close to Gibraltar. Posts have ranged from archaeology to social history, giving direct examples of the work done by curators, archaeologists and other scientists from the museum team. Among the most popular have been posts on the Great Sand Dune behind Catalan Bay, the medieval Galley House at Casemates and a 20 thousand-year old bone spear point from Gorham’s Cave. Also popular have been descriptions of artefacts, adverts from the Gibraltar Directory of 1920 and even earlier, and photographs of old Gibraltar. The latter have included some comparisons with today. A video of the Rock Model and how Gibraltar has changed since has also attracted much attention. Similar results have come from Twitter and Instagram. The Virtual Museum has been publishing a minimum of three daily posts, including weekends and public holidays, and aims to continue doing so in the weeks to come. It can be accessed at the link below as well as via social media.

Commenting on the success of the Virtual Museum, Minister for Heritage Professor John Cortes said, “I am so pleased that our National Museum is now being accessed virtually by so many people. It is an excellent way of portraying what made Gibraltar what it is as well as promoting knowledge of our history and heritage to a worldwide audience. Not forgetting of course the many residents if Gibraltar now enjoying the Museum in these days of lockdown - even those who have not visited it in a long time."

Link to Gibraltar Virtual Museum: https://www.gibmuseum.gi/our-work/virtual-museum