Even today, a sense of history pervades the narrow winding streets of Vittoriosa’s ancient Collachio.
The humble populace of this medieval maritime city still recall with nostalgia their historical heritage, when Vittoriosa, with its strategic position protected by the Castrum Maris (Fort St Angelo), was the only port of call for seafarers seeking a safe haven.
This process of ethnic admixture of sailors and merchants from Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Spanish ports gave Vittoriosa a cosmopolitan dimension.
It brought to this medieval city not only a measure of prosperity but also traditions and Christian devotions which still persist and are spectacularly remembered.
Undoubtedly, Easter festivities, with their roots in Byzantine traditions of the Risen Christ, provide a special landmark in our cultural heritage so manifest on Easter Sunday when Vittoriosa is en fête celebrating with festive solemnity the supreme day of the Christian year with eloquent celebrations of the Resurrection.
Some of the Vittoriosa localities are still brimming with tradition, redolent of their occasional murky medieval past; in fact the ancient Jewish ghetto is still known as It-Triq tal-Lhud (Jews’ Street).
It was here that Vittoriosa’s Jews had their synagogue which was subjected to attacks, particularly during Holy Week and Eastertide.
In 1492, this bigotry reached a high peak, resulting in a strong petition from the Jewish community presented to the Viceroy of Sicily, who was on a short stay at the Castrum Maris.
This petition, featured in Godfrey Wettinger’s erudite contribution in the two-volume publication Birgu – A Maltese Maritime City, states inter alia: “The inhabitants of the said burgu throw stones at them and cause them numerous torments as a result of which they cannot go to the synagogue as they had in ancient times”.
Many literary critics suggest Vittoriosa as the setting for Christopher Marlowe’s tragic drama The Jew of Malta (1589-90), with its strong vibrant verses in the prelude “I count religion but a childish toy; And hold there is no sin but ignorance.”
Was Marlowe, although a Catholic, hinting at the frequent insults and humiliations inflicted on Vittoriosa’s Jewish community during Holy Week and Eastertide?
The proliferation of churches on the Vittoriosa promontory before the coming of the Knights of St John in 1530 earned the city the well-deserved appellation of Ras il-Knejjes (Churches Point).
Besides these churches of Latin rite there were three other churches that served the thriving Greek community already firmly established in Vittoriosa before the Knights’ period.
Documentary evidence proves that the Rhodiots who accompanied the Order to Vittoriosa were assigned to three different parishes already located in different parts, namely the chapel dedicated to Santa Maria Damascene (formerly St Catherine’s) still extant at the impressive church close; another dedicated to St Nicholas (formerly St Agatha’s); and the chapel of St George (formerly St Nicholas) located in the processional route opposite the Dominican priory.
Attachments to the Greek rites, customs and traditions... and perhaps a little nostalgia for their homeland must have rendered Easter Sunday a special occasion for the Greek community.
Undoubtedly medieval Vittoriosa must have experienced the vibrancy and emotions of the occasion as celebrated in the Greek rite.
With the influx of the affluent Rhodiots that accompanied the Knights to Vittoriosa, Easter traditions and devotions were further strengthened.
Episodes from the Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord were added at the Dominican church of Il-Lunzjata (the Annunciation) which then served as Vittoriosa’s parish church and to which the Rhodiots were very much attached.
In fact, two Rhodiot brothers, Girolamo and Antonio Caccialepre, around 1546 built a chapel there with an effigy of the Risen Christ over the altar where special Masses were celebrated on Easter Sunday.
These occurrences, so rich in Easter iconography, provide some insight into the evolution of Easter celebrations in Vittoriosa. Undoubtedly, these have left their imprint on Vittoriosa’s forefathers resulting in deep-rooted traditions that justify the assertion that these spectacular feasts and festivities like Easter are celebrated with great passion and unusual dedication.
Before World War II, Easter celebrations in Vittoriosa started very early on Saturday morning when the artistic statue of the Risen Christ was carried from the waterfront church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to the parish church of St Lawrence, the former Conventual church of the Order of St John.
As the joyous pealing of bells intoned the Gloria it was also customary, indeed it was a rite of passage, for the Vittoriosa youths to take the first swim at the Jews’ Sally Port known as It-Toqba l-Qadima (The Old Hole), historically the place through which the Piccolo Soccorso reached Vittoriosa during the Great Siege of 1565 as depicted by Matteo Perez d’Aleccio in his exquisite murals at the Palace of the Grand Masters in Valletta.
These early deep-rooted traditions still survive in this old city, foremost of which is the centuries-old custom of able-bodied men running with the statue of the Risen Christ in various localities, ending by lifting the statue in joyful triumph.
I vividly recall my active participation in these ‘run-ups’ in my athletic days over 60 years ago as a pious prayer to obtain divine assistance in my participation in major athletic events against athletes from the combined Services in the Mediterranean.
Vittoriosa beckons… with its massive bastions and cavaliers bedecked with flags of all colours fluttering in the spring breeze; with the joyous ringing of bells, the merry lilting marches, the firing of petards, the loud cheers with children proudly clutching their figolla (a traditional Maltese sweet) offering it to the moving Christ chanting Kristu Rxoxt berikhieli, ħudli biċċa u ħallihieli (Risen Christ, bless my figolla, take a piece and leave me the rest).
Until the mid-1960s a drummer accompanied by a piper used to parade down the winding streets of Vittoriosa on Easter Sunday afternoon, and like the Pied Piper of Hamelin he was followed by hundreds of merry children chanting Tom tirli tom, tirli tiera Kristu rxoxta bil-bandiera/Għax tal-Birgu ġeru bih u ….... waqgħu bih (Tom tirli tom tirli tiela/the Risen Christ is carrying the flag/The Birgu runners ran with the statue but (others) tripped and fell).
Even this quatrain is loaded with historical connotation when reference is made to the flag on the statue of the Risen Christ.
At the start of the British period in 1800 some parishes out of deference to the new colonial power substituted the flag of the Religion (the Order’s flag) with a silver palm, but the Vittoriosa parish after some time decided to retain the flag out of gratitude to the Order because this “ancient city saw its finest hour under the Knights with the glorious victory of 1565”.
In this unique, rich historical milieu, traditions and legends flourish in great abundance.
In spite of the social revolution and upheaval in the post-war Cottonera area, the Vittoriosa regeneration and revival have projected a new generation inspired by the spirit of their forefathers, strongly determined to preserve and promote these traditions.