Basilica bells again pealing the time at Birkirkara

For many people, the pealing of church bells giving the time every 15 minutes is reassuring but in times past, it was for many the only way to find out what the time was.

The tolling of church bells every 15 minutes resumed again at the Birkirkara basilica only recently after an absence of about a year while the 250-year-old clock was being restored. The clock is linked to the bells.

People are being invited to see the clock and its mechanism on September 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. and on September 22 from 9 a.m. to noon and from 4.30 to 7 p.m. during an open weekend. Visitors will also have the opportunity to go up to the belfry.

Church pro-curator Manuel Sammut said that the clock, which was made somewhere between 1740 and 1750, had been in dire need of restoration.

Besides the wear and tear of well over 200 years, the clockwork mechanism had eroded.

Restorer Stephen Zammit, a violinist with the National Orchestra, apart from restoring the clock, also installed a completely reversible motorised system which eliminates the need for the clock to be wound every 24 hours.

Mr Zammit, who lives in Fgura, said this was his 10th clock restoration, the others including that of the Msida parish which had been donated to Msida by the Mdina Cathedral.

He said he was fascinated by the Birkirkara clock's mechanism. Everything was labelled, and in spite of the fact that all the details were handcrafted, everything was exactly to size and the detail was extraordinary.

The clock is connected to the bells in the tower through a system of weights which rise up, as a result of which the bells are pealed. After the bells peal, the weights are released.

Three different bells are used, two for the quarter hour and half hour, and one for the hour. One of the weights is an unexploded firework dating to the time of the knights.

Mr Zammit said the clock had been purposely crafted for the Birkirkara parish and was the work of a Maltese craftsman.

It was an innovative system for its time. The person who crafted it, Mr Zammit said, had considerable know-ledge of the different metals.

One detail which amazed him was that the clock's hands were connected to the mechanism with a rod which divided in two to disengage, making the process much simpler.

Mr Sammut said that, unfortunately, there was not enough information to know exactly who had created the masterpiece.

The clock did not even bear the initials of its craftsman.

Mr Sammut did not want to reveal the cost of the restoration but said it was paid for by a benefactor.