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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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Wednesday 29 August 2012

Wayside Chapels – St Anthony (l/o Mdina)

Winter countryside (1)

This chapel is situated in an abandoned cemetery underneath the lofty walls of Mdina. The cemetery was used to bury people who died during outbreaks of the plague or who fell victim to other infectious illnesses such as cholera and tuberculosis. Up until fairly recently, both the chapel and the cemetery were derelict and over-grown with weeds and wild plants. In the last couple of years some form of restoration effort seems to be taking place. According to the website Kappelli Maltin (Maltese Chapels), the chapel was built some time in the mid-1800s.

Winter countryside (3)

St Anthony’s Chapel & Cemetery

Infetti Road

l/o Mdina

Photographed February 2010

12 comments:

  1. Hello Loree:
    We are so heartened to read that this wayside chapel is undergoing some form of restoration. It is so important, in our view, that such places are preserved and not lost to future generations.

    One of the things which we so much love about Hungary, and many other European countries too, is the presence of wayside crosses and chapels to be seen throughout the countryside.

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    Replies
    1. I completely agree with restoration and preservation and saving things for posterity. This island is small but wayside chapels abound and I love discovering them.

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  2. What a beautiful little church and these old gravestones ! Just like they do in little English villages, the graves are always in front of the church.

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    Replies
    1. I love English graves. There is a something different about them.

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  3. An excellent subject for a post, Loree. Thank you for sharing it with us. It seems so radiant, somehow, despite the ravages of time.

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  4. Thank you Suze. This little chapel is not too far from where I live and it has always intrigued me.

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  5. You know how I enjoy the stories, the history and your photos of Malta. This one is no exception and the lighting in the top photo is mesmerizing! It had to have been in the magical light of late afternoon.

    Bises,
    Genie

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  6. Nice to learn that someone or group is making the effort to care for this historical place.

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  7. BACK IN THE 1980 I WAS A FREQUENT VISITOR TO MALTA AND I STILL AM THANK GOD. I DISCOVERED THIS LITTLE CHURCH AND CEMETARY THROUGH A FRIEND WHO SENT ME A POST CARD OF IT IN THE POST TO THE UK. I SAID I WOULD MAKE IT MY BUSINESS TO VISIT IT ON MY NEXT VISIT TO MALTA. WHEN I DISCOVERED IT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. IT WAS IN A TERRIBLE STATE. I APPROACHED THE ARCHBISHOP OF MALTA AT THE TIME AT HIS RESIDENCE IN MDINA. I TOLD HIM ABOUT THE STATE OF THIS LITTLE CHAPEL AND CEMETARY. AS HE DID NOT HELP IN ANY WAY AT THE TIME. I TOOK MATTERS IN TO MY OWN HANDS AND GOT THE LOCAL SCOUT GROUP TO CLEAN THE CEMETARY AND THE CHURCH. I FOUND A PRIEST WHO HAD A RELATIVE BURIED IN THE CEMETARY OF ST ANTHONY. HE WAS FR.JOHN CURATOR OF THE CATHEDRAL MUSEUM IN MDINA. I VISITED HIM AND ASKED HIM WOULD HE SAY A MASS FOR ALL THOSE BURIED IN THE CEMETARY AND THOSE THAT WERE BURIED WHOSE BONES I SAW BENEATH THE LITTLE CHAPEL ON MY VERY FIRST VISIT. ITS AS IF THEY WERE CRYING OUT FOR A HOLY MASS TO BE SAID THERE. SO I TOOK IT ON MYSELF TO DO JUST THAT. THE REASON I APPROACHED FR.JOHN. HE WAS SO GRACIOUS AND SAID A MASS FOR THE REPOSE OF ALL THOSE HOLY SOULS BURIED THERE. MAY THEY REST IN PEACE. THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN DEAR FR.JOHN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS FOR SAYING A MASS FOR ALL THESE TRULY FORGOTTEN HOLY SOULS. WHOM IM SURE THROUGH YOUR HOLY MASS WENT STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN ON THAT DAY NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO. YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST. JOHN.MURNANE.

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  8. I love this little chapel i paint it often ,i have brought the attention of departments concerned to save this precious part of Maltese history.Positive feedback seems it will be renovated in near future .

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