Bid to preserve remains of pre-17th century chapel

A resident in the area of Sant' Andrija, San Gwann is calling on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to see to the urgent conservation of the remains of the chapel bearing the same name in the area.

John Seychell Navarro said the council had issued a call for tenders for a road, which incorporates the chapel site, to be levelled and asphalted.

Before such work was undertaken, he said, there should be excavations to establish if the chapel's foundations were still standing and whether they should be protected.

Historian Salvatore Mousù said when contacted that it was very unlikely that any remains of the chapel would be found but there was no harm in trying to work cautiously in order to safeguard what there may be.

He said the chapel was most probably destroyed in the early 20th century. It was one of the 1,000 chapels in the Maltese islands, of which 310 survive.

According to information obtained from Guzé Dimech Debono's L-Imsierah jew L-Gharghar, E. B. Vella's L-Istorja ta' Birkirkara, Tony C. Cutajar's San Gwann u l-Istorja Tieghu and Vincent Buhagiar in the September 1988 issue of Il-Qanpiena, the chapel was so old no one knew when it was originally built.

A certain Ambrog Abdilla had rebuilt it in the 1600s and it was closed or profaned in March 1659. Its titular painting was taken to the parish of Birkirkara on the bishop's order.

It is understood that the chapel was again used later on, as elderly people in San Gwann remember services at the chapel including weddings and funerals.

Mr Seychell Navarro is writing to Mepa, the San Gwann and Swieqi councils, the Museums Department, the Infrastructure Ministry, councillor Tony C. Cutajar, Mr Mousù and the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna. In his letter, he is saying he was informed the chapel was of great historical value.

It gave the name of Sant'Andrija to the area and this name was still used to the present day. A street parallel to the chapel site was also named after the chapel.

The chapel also gave the town of St Andrews its name and the St Andrews Cross was incorporated in the Swieqi council emblem.

Mr Seychell Navarro said it was also claimed that the chapel's parvis was used as a burial ground and the chapel was clearly shown on a map reproduced by the War Office in 1954 and referred to as San Andrea chapel.

According to Mr Mousù's recent brochure Rediscover Forgotten Mensija, St Andrew's chapel could have been inspired by the legend of Andrea who dug the earth after seeing an extraordinary light coming from a cave, which had a sacred image and a three-wick oil lamp.

Legend has it that the image was moved but kept returning to its original site after which the cave was cleaned up and supplied with an altar.

Mr Seychell Navarro said that an inspection with officials from the Museums Department and Mr Cutajar led to documentation of the few stones still present above the soil.

Mr Mousù had previously confirmed the stones as dating back to the 16th century. He said the stones were curious and could have formed part of the chapel's altar.

Mr Seychell Navarro called on the competent authorities to issue a conservation order on site and postpone any developments until an intricate study and professional excavations were carried out and the remaining stones were rescued.

In Vittoriosa, he noted, the foundations of a clock tower were being excavated and a detailed study on their state was being commissioned. There was no logical reason why this could not also be done for the chapel that had evidently left its historical mark in the locality, he argued.