Malta is peppered with churches and chapels. The old adage claims there are 356 chapels and churches on the islands, 1 for every day of the year! One tiny often neglected chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Grace in Sliema. This article details its history and its significance to this sprawling metropolis.

I used to work in Sliema and must have dashed past this chapel a thousand times, searching an elusive parking spot. My offices where down the road from where this chapel is.

The tradition and the name

Sliema today is part of Malta’s large urbanised east coast. Up till the late 18th century it was a rural agricultural area^{1 2}. At the time, the Knights had a small fort on the peninsula of Tigne^{1 2}. The rest of present-day Sliema was not protected – and therefore open to a naval attack.

There was a small church in this fort dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health or, in Maltese, “il-Madonna tas-Sliem”². It was visible from the entrance to Valletta’s Grand Harbour and was a landmark of sorts². Sailors on Knights’ galleys would pay their respects to Our Lady as they set sail. In a similar manner, local fishermen would pray for a safe return – a return ‘bis-sliem’. These two traditions gave the town the name of Sliema².

Today’s traffic and constant noise means the name Sliema is an oxymoron; but those were different times!

History

French troops destroyed the chapel in the fort when Napoleon took over the islands^{1 3}. The locality needed a new church. While it formed part of the parish of the central locality of Birkirkara, that was too far away for people to walk to on a regular basis.

Ms Giovanna Salvaloco donated land to build the Chapel.

A benefactor by the name of Miss Giovanna Salvaloco donated the land for a new chapel in Sliema^{1 3}. The Church records this donation on 28 April 1801^{1 4}. In 1803, locals started collecting funds to build a new church.

This is a stone’s throw away from Selma Hall, or Capua Palace. It gets its name from the Prince of Capua who lived in exile here.

The government helped fund the construction of the church. This coincided with the arrival of the British and Sir Alexander Ball had an interest in keeping the peace.

I’ve written about how Ball funded the development of the Sa Maison-Sliema road so Sliema was important to the British.

The British are Protestant and this is a Roman Catholic chapel. I know Ball was concerned for the locals and their welfare so this could explain how religion wasn’t part of the decision.

We don’t know when they finished building the chapel but sources mention it in operation in May 1804¹.

Usage

Once completed, a priest would trek from Birkirkara every Sunday to celebrate Mass. He would not start Mass until he saw everyone in church, which suggests a close-knit community¹. This sense of community has died out today, but I have fond memories of my father’s stories of his childhood where he describes this sort of thing.

The bells would ring when the authorities hung criminals in Floriana, across the creek^{1 2}. At the time, they held public hangings in the open and you could see them from the Chapel^{1 2}. The bells reminded people to say a prayer for the soul of the condemned¹.

Floriana was an execution site long before the chapel was built. The men at the heart of the Slaves’ Conspiracy were hanged in Floriana in 1849.

Dr James Barry, another famous Sliema resident lived close to this chapel too. Barry was famous for modernising medicine and introducing sweeping changes in Malta.

The population of Sliema grew and a larger church was built¹. In 1878 the new parish church of Stella Maris was inaugurated¹ – right opposite this little chapel.

Mass was still heard in the Chapel¹. There was some rivalry though. Priests celebrated Mass here at the same time as in the parish church to attract the faithful away from their larger competitor¹! In 1908 Bishop Pietro Pace solved this rivalry by closing the Chapel of Our Lady of Divine Grace¹. They used the Chapel as a warehouse for some time¹ until Fr Amadeo Bonello re-opened the church again.

Some sources suggest the Church abandoned the chapel for 14 years. I know my great-grandparents married in this chapel in 1913⁵ so it must have been in use, albeit not on a regular basis.

Art and Architecture

The chapel’s simplicity is part of its charm. The main door has a stone frame as does the small oval-shaped window above the door. Most of the internal decor is also in the local honey-coloured stone. Given the long Maltese tradition of masonry it is probable a stone mason donated his time and skills to decorate the church.

We don’t know who painted the main painting above the altar¹. We know it is a copy of a Raphael which is in the Capitoline Museum in Rome¹. This painting is the same one which was in the Tigne chapel the French destroyed¹.

The other two paintings are by renowned Sicilian painter Mattia Preti^{1 2}. 

There is a lapida commemorating the remains of two priests and one layman. The priests’ remains had been interred in the chapel in Tigne^{1 2}. The authorities rediscovered them in 1856 and brought them here^{1 2}. 

I had no idea of this chapel’s history, or its connection to my family, until I started looking into it. I wouldn’t give this place a second glance; now I can’t help but smile when I pass by.

It goes to show you never know what story lurks behind the next corner.

1. Our Lady of the Divine Grace; Maltese Chapels; Roderick Busuttil; (Retrieved 2019-07-16) (Article in Maltese) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Plaque inside the chapel; (As seen by author 2018-05-09) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Mepa Helps finance restoration works on Our Lady of Grace chapel in Sliema; The Malta Independent; 2004-08-19[↩][↩]
4. Getting intimate with Malta; Streets of Malta; 2014-01-24[↩]
5. Paolo Darmenia; Antoine P. Borg; House of Darmenia; 2018-04-25[↩]