Addolorata Cemetery gets a new lease of life as restoration works completed
Five-year, €6 million project wrapped up as minister and archbishop inaugurate restored site
Various chapels and monuments at the Addolorata Cemetery have been restored through a €6 million project.
The restored structures were jointly inaugurated by Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela and Archbishop Charles Scicluna.
The Addolorata Cemetery is Malta’s largest cemetery and was designed by architect Emmanuele Luigi Galizia. It was inaugurated in 1869. While it is open to burials of all religions, the vast majority of graves are Catholic ones.
Restoration works began in 2019 and targeted all of its main structures, from its principal chapel to the Gatt Chapel, a private family chapel that was left for the government to maintain by the last heir of the Gatt family.
A fountain, well and various monuments within the cemetery, including one dedicated to the Sette Giugno riots, were also restored.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela and Archbishop Charles Scicluna inaugurate the restored chapel. Photo: DOIMinister Abela thanked workers from the Foundation of Medical Services and Superintendence of Public Health, which jointly coordinated the restoration works.
Archbishop Scicluna said he hoped all those who visit the restored cemetery “will feel the relief of our faith in the resurrection. I thank the government and Foundation for Medical Services for the investment and work they have done here.”