About 150 pilgrims walked their first Camino Maltés last weekend – a 34km heritage trail from Mdina to Vittoriosa that also includes an ancient route, dating back to the 16th century.

Around four years in the making, the 28km Universal Peace Walk AD1543 from Mdina to Żejtun is part of the recently launched Camino Maltés de Santiago de Compostela, which stretches 3,600km, starting from Mdina and traversing Sicily, Sardinia and onto Spain, ending in the leading Catholic pilgrimage destination. 

The Malta segment of the Camino Maltés route from Rabat to Vittoriosa included 10 localities in between and took some eight hours for those who completed it, with stops in chapels along the way.

Baby Diego Javier, the youngest pilgrim from Slovakia, and 'Johnny Walker', the oldest and a Camino veteran.

Trekkers of 10 nationalities, including British, Spanish and Italian, followed in the footsteps of the devout, with the youngest, Diego Javier, being just six months, and the oldest, Camino veteran ‘Johnny Walker’ in his 70s.

Among the participants were those passionate about faith-based heritage trails, as well as people who happened to be on holiday, heard about it and asked to join while they were here, said James Portelli, founder of XirCammini hiking group.

Designed and led by Portelli and John Chircop, a XirCammini committee member, they had been planning to revive the pilgrimage dating back 480 years and now complete with website, app and signage.

Along the pilgrimage

Pilgrims on their walk.

“After a long journey, proper signposting was set up across the route,” said Chircop, who, together with Portelli, understood the pilgrimage was a “novel attraction” for locals and foreigners alike.

They were driven by the fact that spiritual tourism had huge potential and that this sector of special-interest travel was getting much attention abroad.

A voluntary organisation, XirCammini was set up in 2018 to focus on hiking and the spiritual and historical aspect of ancient pilgrimage routes. 

The Universal Peace Walk was started by Bishop Domenico Cubelles. To consolidate the power of the Catholic Church in Malta, the pilgrimage linked the parishes together, starting from Mdina, through to Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi, Mqabba and Qrendi, ending up in Żejtun.

Today, the way the parishes were connected meant the route had changed considerably, even including a runway in the area that was once the medieval village of Ħlantun and thriving parish of Bir Miftuħ.

The 36.46km outdoor walk

Work on the project intensified in summer 2021, with the intervention of the Maltese Ambassador to Spain, Daniel Azzopardi, and the 3,600km Camino from Malta to Santiago de Compostela was officially launched in January.

The venture was supported by the Malta Tourism Authority and Heritage Malta, with the former providing guidance and funding for signage and literature, Portelli said.

The focus of the pilgrim path is to highlight important landmarks and overlooked historical elements for walkers to discover countryside niches and old chapels on the town fringes. 

Local councils opened up their chapels for pilgrims to view and stamps were also provided by band clubs for the pilgrim passports. 

Maqluba church and Tal-Ħniena Sanctuary in Qrendi were opened specifically for the pilgrimage and the local council also produced two stamps for each site.

Lunzjata, Duluri Basilica and ta’ l-Anġli in Żebbuġ, Tal-Providenza chapel, Siġġiewi, San Ġakbu church, Żurrieq, and San Girgor church, Żejtun, were also accessible on the day.

The ancient Universal Peace Walk has also gone digital, and “hundreds” have downloaded the basic app from Google Play. Work is also under way to extend this to the full Camino Maltés through Sicily, Sardinia and Spain.

"Following the inaugural Camino Maltés, plans are already in hand to continue the trail in Sicily, Sardinia and Spain later this year and during the next"

Just like the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, hikers on the Maltese trail were given a certificate of completion once the destination was reached. 

“While we are working on virtual stamps, most pilgrim-hikers still like the ‘physical’ stamp on a paper credencial,” Portelli said. 

In the case of the Universal Peace Walk, this has been integrated in the pilgrim guidebook; and for the Camino Maltés, XirCammini has applied to Santiago de Compostela and the Camino Maltés Kredenzjal has been approved and is being printed.

Camino aficionados said that “starting from home is different” and hoped to proceed “bit by bit along the Camino Maltés all the way to Santiago”.

Following the inaugural Camino Maltés, plans are already in hand to continue the trail in Sicily, Sardinia and Spain later this year and during the next.

One of the pilgrims