The annual celebration in honour of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary at the medieval church of Ħal Millieri in Żurrieq will be held next Sunday. For the occasion the chapel will be open to the public from 9am to 6pm. Mass will be celebrated at 10am, followed by the blessing of the adjoining churchyards.

Din l-Art Ħelwa, which holds the chapel in trust, will be offering two guided tours of the site at 11.15am by Stanley Farrugia Randon and at 4pm by Salvator Mousu. The church of the Annunciation is a major landmark of Malta’s medieval past.

The present edifice dates to around 1450, but archaeological excavations have shown that it was built over the site of an earlier, possibly 13th-century chapel, and a much older late Roman rural complex. The church is best known for its medieval architectural features and for its unique set of frescoe paintings that adorn its side walls between the springing of the arches. The effigies, which is believed to have been copied from the earlier chapel, have been expertly restored through the efforts of Din l-Art Ħelwa.

The church can be reached from Imqabba Road at the Żurrieq entrance to Blue Grotto Avenue or from Diamond Jubilee Square (Fuq il-Mentna) at the end of the Mqabba bypass.

Public lecture
Stephen Spiteri, in collaboration with the International Institute for Baroque Studies, University of Malta, will give a public lecture, D’Aleccio’s Fortifications of the Great Siege at 133, Melita Street, Valletta, on Thursday at 6.30pm.