Floriana’s attractions were open to visitors today in a series of day-long events organised by the local council.

The attractions included the Capuchin Church and Friary , with particular interest being shown by visitors in the crypt and cemetery hewn from the rock between 1725 and 1730.

The cemetery is well known for mummified corpses of Capuchin Friars in niches along the walls, of which one survives – that of Brother Crispin, who died in 1867, aged 79 years.

Visitors could also tour the wartime shelters beneath police headquarters, where emergency operating theatres were housed, although little remains today. The building was Malta’s general hospital at the time.

Other sites open to visitors including the Crime Museum at police headquarters, the various churches and gardens all around Floriana, including areas which are not usually open to the public, such as the bell towers of the parish church.