Wayside chapel in a state of abandonment

There are so many small chapels dotted around the Maltese countryside. Many of them date back hundreds of years and were either built with money donated by people of noble birth or because of vows made by various people. It is a pity that many of them have not been opened for years and some are in a state of disrepair.

I was recently taken to visit the area around the chapel at Wied Qirda in Żebbuġ. After a big lunch, my friends, Lucy and Freddie Schembri explained that the chapel is dedicated to the Visitation of Our Lady and that recently vandals set fire to the room next to it thus causing damage to the chapel itself.

It is also understood that the valuable paintings inside were stolen. It is a pity that this chapel is in such a bad state, with walled up windows and in a general state of abandonment. I was also told that there are different versions of when and why this chapel was built. The present building is said to have been built in 1678 as a date above the building shows. A cleric, Bartolomeo Magro, is said to have paid for it and that when he was murdered by, thieves in the house he lived in not far from the chapel, he was buried in the chapel.

Surely Heritage Malta should take over these chapels which have been left to go to rack and ruin or if this cannot be done because they belong to the Church, then they should be offered to voluntary organisations or even individuals who will look after them and even open them up to the public.