We had a very special adventure on Thursday. We met with Father Joe Caruana, Michael’s second cousin, and he spent 2.5 hours taking us around the Parish Church of Mellieha. There was so much information shared, I wish I could have recorded it.
The earliest written recording of the existence of the church was 807 AD. At that time it was a cave. There is an unverified story that the church emerged prior to that time when a bunch of bishops travelling to Africa stopped and consecrated the cave. Frescos of bishops are painted around just below the ceiling perhaps alluding to this story.
The cave was expanded and built out and became the original parish church, which is now the sanctuary. You can clearly see where the cave part ends and the addition begins. You could feel that you were in a very old place.
Michael parents, Joe and Esther, were married in this sanctuary in 1958. While that was always known, having a richer understanding of the church’s history added to the story.
The main church was built in the late 1800s – so not old by Malta standards. The entire village worked together to bring rock from a nearby quarry. Only the builders were paid a wage. People would pitch in after work or on the weekends. They used soil mixed with water between the blocks, instead of mortar, which turned out to be a good idea because soil provides some give, preventing the stone from cracking during earthquakes and the like. The church is beautiful on the inside – very white, modestly and in a balanced way decorated with carvings and colour.
There are three main statues Father Joe pointed out that were made of paper mache or wood. Paper mache wasn’t easy to make because they had very little paper, so they used whatever paper they could find, including bills/receipts. Wood was also scarce because the small number of trees on the island were used to build masts for ships in medieval times, so they reused the base of a mast and added lots of other wood scraps fused to the mast in some fashion to form the block from which to carve the statue.
One interesting piece of art dating to 1600 AD depicts the birth of Mary with slain Ottomans fighters at her feet. The birth of Mary and Malta’s victory over the Turks during the siege in 1565 coincides on September 8. It is from these events that the church draws its formal name – Our Lady of Victory. Interestingly, September 8 is also when Malta fought back against a siege by the French in the 1800s and when the Italians began retreating from Malta during the Second World War (this was actually Sept 4 but close enough). Malta erupts in celebration that lasts days every September to commemorate these events.
We saw every nook and cranny of the church. It was quite amazing. We went up to the first level of the roof with beautiful views for miles. To get to the roof we went up this spiral staircase, with the ropes used to pull on the bells visible. Once on the roof, the structures with the reddish base and tops are the tops of the domes visible in the ceiling of the church. We also had a good view down on the original church, now known as the Sanctuary.
We then went to the top level of the roof, going up a second spiral staircase. There’s an implicit warning to not lean on the railings, they don’t offer much support (😉). Along the way Father Joe showed us the clock mechanism. There were also some nice views of the top of the facade and central dome from the roof.
Finally, we went into the bell tower, up a third spiral staircase…this one a tad tighter fit. You’ll also notice the black on the staircase…these stairs are open to the outside and pidgeons use it to rest…and crap.
Sean is learning about pulleys and gears in science. We saw the inside of the church clock which has many gears. The church bells are rigged with a bunch of pulleys and wires. The priest let the boys ring the bells (very gently since the bells mean something and could confuse people) from different locations so Sean saw the “mechanical advantage” of pulleys in action. Within each bell, the clapper is attached to the top of the bell with the sinew from bulls. They don’t rust, are very strong, and last for a very long time. The church bells are rung manually multiple times a day. The sole employee of the church (same guy for over 43 years) rings them throughout the day.
The church – like many things in Malta – has a history that is tied to the Knights of St. John. Michael noticed the plaque that lists the priests of the parish over the years has a large gap between 1575 and 1844. At this time Corsairs and pirates ruled the seas and often landed on the sandy beaches of Mellieha. So no one wanted to live in Mellieha and it became neglected.
In 1649, knights of St. John built the St. Agatha Tower (see our blog post on this tower) which kept watch over Mellieha Bay and effectively protected the bay from corsairs and pirates. Over time, people, and priests to preside over the church, came back to Mellieha.
We were then invited to Father Joe’s residence to have lunch with his two sisters, Carmen and Verra, who whipped up a wonderful lunch. We then thanked them for their generosity and snapped a pic before going on our way. A great day spent with family, learning history, and having a privileged tour not many get.
What a great opportunity! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Oh wow what a wonderful experience. So amazing for the boys (for all of you!) to learn the history and see where Joe and Esther were married. What a beautiful church. Those tight staircases are something else!
interesting that according to the plaque, the bartolos are actually the bartholos
Thanks for sharing such detail. The bells sound beautiful. You can see the wonder in the boys’ expressions as soon as they sounded the bells. Another very cool adventure.