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This blog is dedicated to Malta - my island home. My aim is not to bore you with history but to share my thoughts and a few facts together with a photo or two. For a more in -depth background of the island please go here. The purpose of this blog is not to point out the short-comings of the island. There are plenty that do that already. My wish is to show you the beauty of an island at the cross roads of the Mediterranean, a melting pot of history; a place where fact and fiction are sometimes fused to create unique myths and legends; a country that has been conquered so many times that our culture is a mish mesh of the lands that surround us and of lands far away. I confess that my greatest desire is to make you fall in love with this tiny enchanting island.

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Monday 4 July 2011

Ruby Tuesday: Of Saints And Doorways

St Agatha & Hal-Bajjada (20)

An old house in the ancient town of Rabat. Above the red doorway, an artist’s rendition of the apostle Paul, the paint flaking, the stonework crumbling.

St Agatha & Hal-Bajjada (21)

I have talked about this area in Rabat, known as Hal-Bajjada here. The apostle Paul was shipwrecked in Malta on his way to Rome. This episode is recorded in Acts 27 and 28. A strong local tradition suggests that Paul lived in a cave underneath what is now the  parish church of Rabat. The town has a strong Pauline tradition and statues like the one above are quite a common adornment on the facades of older houses.  I thought that the saint’s red mantle would make a good contribution for this week’s Ruby  Tuesday.

More Ruby Tuesday entries here

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16 comments:

  1. I absolutely loved this post, Loree. One of my goals in life is to see a piece of architecture that is over one thousand years old with my own eyes (not in a photo.)

    I love crumbling, peeling, deteriorating facades. I am so glad I am following this blog for these glimpses I would otherwise never have.

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  2. The paint flaking...the stonework crumbling...but the saint standing stalwart!


    RED OR YELLOW?

    If you have a penchant for red,
    Then scarlet will go to your head;
    But if it is gold
    You’d rather behold,
    Then plant yellow roses instead.


    © 2011 by Magical Mystical Teacher

    Callejon (Alley)

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  3. Beautiful images, as always. Thank you for providing the reference links - very interesting!

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  4. Such history! It is interesting to see bits of the place Paul was shipwrecked. The previous post is fascinating!

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  5. Beautiful red for Ruby Tuesday!

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  6. Oh I love this. The saint is so colourful. Just super.

    Over here, he'd have been stolen a long time ago.

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  7. Such a wonderful RT capture, full of character and history :).

    -----------------------------------
    My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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  8. He has a rather funny face ! Very original picture !

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  9. Although St. Paul could do with a bit of restoration, it is wonderful to see the representation enduring in Malta. Love the red door, too!

    I do not think that I appreciated the brief several hundred years of our country's history while I was studying it in school. The Malta history is lengthy and rich and ancient. I wonder if the students complain that there is too much to study.

    Thank you as always for sharing this with us... history with photos!

    Bises,
    Genie

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  10. i love places full of history. man! i want to visit!
    p.s. have you seen more spaniards than usual? it seems all of sara´s friends have gone there for summer vacation.
    x

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  11. Bonjour mon ami! Thank you for the history lesson.. as always, beautiful photos.
    Wishing you a lovely weekend! xoxo, B

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  12. Hi Dear Loree
    How wonderful to be surrounded by all this beauty and history... The use of colour is interesting and reminds me of mexican religious art... fascinating..

    Hope you have a lovely weekend. ciao xxx Julie

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  13. love the way you weave the rich history of your island into your posts!

    p.s. keep cool - do you have summer thunderstorms there to cool things down?

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  14. I love the Saint Paul statue, I hope in time someone is going to restore it to its former glory, it should never go to waste!.

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