Heritage Malta is organising a Heritage Trail that will be focusing on Grand Master Fra Alof de Wignacourt. Participants will be visiting Fort Saint Lucian, Wignacourt Tower, St Paul’s Bay. They will make a short stop at St Thomas Tower in Marsascala and then proceed to the Palace Armoury Valletta. The event forms part of Heritage Malta’s series of thematic heritage trails that seek to provide participants with a greater awareness on a particular topic of cultural interest.

Wignacourt was Grand Master of the Knights of St John from 1601 to 1622. His reign was notable for the construction of a number of coastal fortifications (the Wignacourt towers), and of the aqueduct that brought water from Rabat to Valletta. His parade armour survives and is one of the treasures of the Palace Armoury in Valletta. He was also a patron of the artist Caravaggio.

Amongst the towers which are still standing one finds the St Paul Bay’s Tower, St Lucian Tower in Marsaxlokk, St Thomas Tower in St Thomas Bay, and St Mary Tower on Comino. With their bastioned turrets, these towers were more of forts in form rather than simple lookout posts. These massive structures were built to dominate the coastline, mounting batteries of heavy artillery on their roofs. They could be garrisoned by sizable detachments in times of war.

In the Palace Armoury in Valletta, apart from finding one of the world’s greatest arms collections housed in their original buildings, one finds several outstanding examples of splendid parade armour by master armourers. The most splendid of these is the suit inlaid with gold made for Grand Master Wignacourt.

This parade armour, is certainly one of the finest in the Palace Armoury collection, and must rank among the highest achievements in the art of armour decoration. Its entire surface is covered with elaborate gold and silver ornamentation of the finest quality, skillfully embossed from behind in low relief and later artfully chased and engraved in a most intricate detail.

The Heritage Trail will be held on Sunday 15th June 2008. Participants will be meeting in front of the Hotel Phoenicia in Floriana at 8.45 hrs. Tickets, costing Euros 12 for the general public and Euros 8 for Heritage Malta members, must be bought beforehand from the Heritage Malta Head Office in Merchants Street, Valletta. For booking and more information phone Heritage Malta on 2295 4312.

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