Open day at Hal Millieri – 29 March 2009

The chapel, which holds a rare cycle of medieval frescoes in a unique rural setting, will be open to the public from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Two guided tours of the site will be offered at 11:15am and at 3:15pm. Admission is free of charge but any donations collected will be dedicated to the upkeep and maintenance of this historic site.

The Ħal Millieri chapel is best reached either via Żurrieq by taking the first right hand turn after leaving the Blue Grotto Avenue fountain roundabout; or down Diamond Jubilee Square on the Imqabba bypass. The chapel of the Annunciation at Ħal Millieri is a unique historical monument from Malta’s medieval past.

The present chapel dates to around 1450 but excavations have shown it to have been built over the site of an earlier, possibly 13^th century chapel, and a much older late-Roman rural complex. The Ħal Millieri chapel is best known for its medieval architectural elements, and more so for the unique set of frescoes which adorn its side walls between the springing of the arches. The anachronistic cycle of effigies of saints, which is believed to have been copied from the earlier primitive chapel, have been expertly restored through the efforts of Din l-Art Ħelwa, as Malta’s best example of medieval vernacular religious art.