Heritage Malta is organizing a Heritage Trail that will be focusing on Medieval Chapels in Malta. Participants will be visiting archaeological remains of Tas-Silg in Marsaxlokk, the Chapel of Santa Marija ta’ Bir Miftuh near Gudja, and the chapels of the Annunciation and the more recently built St John Evangelist at Hal Millieri near Zurrieq.

The excavation site, Tas-Silg, is a multi-period site, ranging from structures from the prehistoric Maltese Temple Period through a Punic sanctuary and up to a Byzantine church, an early Christian Basilica on the southern coast of Malta, although the vast majority of finds were Punic.

The chapel of Santa Marija ta’ Bir Miftuh was built in around 1430 and is one of the best preserved examples of a fifteenth-century parish church in Malta. It was declared a parish in 1436 by Bishop Senatore de Mello and served as such until 1676 when the Parish Church of Gudja was built. It was never in the centre of a village but was a parish church that served several villages. It became a Trust of Din l-Art Helwa in 1970.

The second chapel to be visited, that of the Annunciation, is situated in the old village of Casal Millieri, which lies between Zurrieq, Qrendi, Mqabba and Kirkop. This village was first documented in 1419 and its origins date back to Roman and possibly pre-historic times. The chapel was consecrated in around 1480 on the site of an earlier chapel built in the thirteenth century, and is a typical example of a Maltese medieval church.

The paintings in the chapel of the Annunciation are unique and executed in the fresco technique. Their style and the angular Gothic letters of their inscriptions date them to the middle of the fifteenth century.

The ‘Teenagers Din l-Art Helwa’ group began the cleaning of the chapel in February 1968. In 1970 the management of the chapel was given to Din l-Art Helwa.

The church of St John the Baptist is found a mere 70 metres away. Little is known about the original chapel of St John. It already existed in 1481 when it was endowed by a certain Andrea Zammit. In 1575 the church authorities ordered this primitive chapel to be deconsecrated on account of its poor state. However it survived until at least 1634, when the church authorities again threatened to close it down if it were left unfurnished. Instead it was reconstructed and today remains more or less unaltered, except for the new 1931 altar and the demolition of the lovely low-walled parapet surrounding the atrium.

Din l-Art Helwa commenced restoration of this chapel in 2004 and during the clean-up of the adjacent site of St Michael’s chapel a curious discovery was made – a stone engraved with the signature of Giuseppe Cali, one of Malta’s most well-known painters of the late 19th century.

The Heritage Trail will be held on Sunday the 7th of December 2008. Participants will be meeting in front of the Hotel Phoenicia at 8.45 hrs and will return to Valletta at around 13.00 hrs. Tickets, costing €15 for the general public and €12 for Heritage Malta members, must be bought beforehand from the Heritage Malta Head Office in Merchants Street, Valletta. For booking and more information please telephone Heritage Malta on 2295 4312.

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