The next Malta Council for Culture and the Arts cultural tour will be held on February 5. It will take participants to a number of venues in Qrendi and Mqabba. Accompanied by professional guides, participants will have the opportunity to visit Santa Katerina chapel, also known as Tat-Torba and Ta’ Bieb iż-Żejtunija. It is one of the earliest chapels built on the Maltese islands dedicated to this saint and its architecture is most uncommon for the time with a barrel shaped ceiling. Inside visitors will find only one altar elevated from the tiled floor, decorated by a prospective with sculpted angels in stone, supporting the titular painting of Saint Catherine.

Tour participants will then visit Il-Ġnien tal-Kmandant which was established by Sir Alexander John Ball. These gardens, often referred to as Il-Ġnien tal-Kmand, were built in Qrendi, Mqabba, Għaxaq, Gudja, Żejtun, Għargħur, Safi (known as il-Ġnien ta’ Ball) and Lija. Part of the tour will include a visit to It-Torri tal-Kaptan which formerly housed the captain of the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. It is one of Qrendi’s most prominent monuments and is unique in the Maltese islands.

Another visit in Qrendi will be to a private insect exhibition sited in a mediaeval dwelling within the heart of the village. Collected, mounted, and catalogued by Denis Magro, he is a local young man specialising in the study of Lepidoptera.

The tour will then conclude with a visit to the Old Hospital in Mqabba which is said to date back to the 16th century when the pestilence epidemic took the lives of 11.2 per cent of the population. The premises was recognised by the authoritities as being of great historical importance and was scheduled in 1997 as a Grade 1 building.

• Applications and more information about these cultural tours may be downloaded from the MCCA website: www.maltaculture.com. Bookings must be made by not later than February 1.

For further information send an e-mail to noel.damato@maltaculture.com.