Stone features of Valletta's oldest church repaired
Money needed for church's restoration
Urgent repairs have been made to outstanding ornamental stone features on the roof of Valletta's oldest church, dedicated to Our Lady of Victories.
The repairs have been made possible through the support of Computime Ltd, which donated Lm2,000 to heritage NGO Din l-Art Helwa.
Din l-Art Helwa is sponsoring restoration work on the church in a joint project with the Valletta Rehabilitation Project.
The donation was made on the roof of the church yesterday by Mario Mizzi and Louis Bellizzi, directors of Computime, to the NGO's general secretary, Philip Zammit Briffa, and to Ray Bondin, VRP coordinator.
The features that have been restored are flame stone finials. Repair work was also done to part of the roof.
The church was built by the Order of the Knights of St John to mark their victory over the Turkish fleet in 1565.
The foundation stone of the City of Valletta is said to lie within the church, which is also the first burial place of Grand Master La Valette.
Din l-Art Helwa and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project hope to restore the rest of the church when more money is available.
They estimate that work to the façade alone would cost some Lm30,000.
A spokesman for Computime encouraged the private sector to assist in such works, which would benefit the whole community.