The annual celebration in honour of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary at the medieval church of Ħal Millieri (Żurrieq) will this year be held on Sunday, March 26.  

The chapel will be open to the public from 9.00am to 5.00pm.  Holy Mass will be celebrated at 10.00 a.m., followed by the blessing of the adjoining churchyard. 

Din l-Art Ħelwa, the volunteer heritage organization which holds the chapel in trust, will be offering two guided tours of the site at 11.00am and at 4.00pm.

The church of the Annunciation at Ħal Millieri 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 thirteenth-century chapel, and a much older Roman rural complex. 

The Ħal Millieri church is best known for its medieval architectural features, and for the unique set of fresco paintings that adorn its side walls between the springing of the arches.  This anachronistic cycle of holy effigies, which is believed to have been copied from the earlier chapel, is a fine exemplar of Maltese medieval vernacular art, and has 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 Imqabba bypass.