BirguFest returns to Vittoriosa

Image by @ru_nkmr

Image by @joshpaffen

Following a two-year hiatus, BirguFest returned to the streets of Vittoriosa last weekend, bathing the hamlet in the glow of candelight. An annual event that is now in its 17th edition, the much-awaited festival featured over 20,000 candles that were lit all across the charming alleys and age-old façades of this ancient capital city.

On the night, museums and historical sites, including the Inquisitor’s Palace and the Malta at War museum stayed open until midnight, offering visitors the unique experience to view familiar spaces with new eyes.

This year’s programme included an array of cultural activities, such as a short film festival, live music, and diverse art exhibitions. Historic re-enactments also unfolded throughout the weekend.

The mystical site of Hal-Saflieni : the Hypogeum

UNESCO-heritage site, the Hypogeum, Paola.

Of the UNESCO-Heritage sites that are scattered across Malta, the neolithic site of the Hypogeum is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating.

Located a 10-minute drive from our doorstep in the neighbouring town of Paola, the Hypogeum offers a fascinating glimpse into the island’s neolithic past.

Comprising an underground cave system that covers approximately 500m² on 3 separate levels, with various inter-connecting corridors and passageways that lead to a number of small chambers, it is believed the Hypogeum was built around 6000 years ago. The cave system was re-discovered by pure accident in 1902, when workers cutting cisterns for a new housing development broke through its roof. The workers tried to hide the temple at first, but eventually it was found, and since then, there has been particular interest in one of the rooms, named the “Oracle Chamber”. The space is said to amplify voices dramatically, with certain frequencies resonating enough to be felt through the body.

Red ochre spiral paintings inside the Hypogeum

Whatever remained of the above-ground megalithic enclosure that once marked the Hypogeum’s entrance was destroyed by industrialization during the late 1800s. Now, visitors enter through a modernized lobby, then descend a railed walkway and move chronologically through two of the site’s three tiers, glimpsing along the way evidence of the structure's dual role as worship and burial place.

Archaeologists estimate over 6,000 people were buried at the site and have found beads, amulets, intricate pottery and carved figurines alongside the bones. Several chambers are still decorated with black and white checkerboards and red ochre spirals and honey-combs, the only prehistoric paintings found on the island.

To this day, it is hard to say with certainty what the Hypogeum was truly used for, but its mystical history continues to attract hundreds of visitors a day, who descend into its silent chambers for a chance to decipher their age-old secrets.

Visits to the Hypogeum are solely available via pre-booked guided tours. Tickets are available for purchase from Heritage Malta’s website.

The festive season in Malta

Although temperatures have been particularly balmy this winter, the island is still brimming with festive cheer and the Christmas spirit, adorning shops, streets and houses across Malta with the glow of lights and the twinkle of tinsel.

Over in Valletta, the main retail streets of the capital, including Republic and Merchant Street, are bedecked in blue-and-white fairy lights reminiscent of snow, while Fairyland Malta near the evocative Triton Fountain has seen Santa set up his workshop along with his elves, just in time for Christmas.

Lovers of ballet rejoice, for Eden Cinemas shall be screening The Royal Ballet's glorious production of The Nutcracker, created by Peter Wright in 1984. Live from London, this is the quintessential Christmas experience, and will be sure to set you in the mood for all things merry and bright.

For those who are looking to go sustainable, the Eco Christmas Market shall be taking place over at the Valletta Waterfront on 21 and 22 December - the perfect spot to pick up conscious gifts while supporting innovative makers and brands.

Finally, if you’ll be heading out to Gozo over the holidays, be sure to visit the Bethlehem f’Ghajnsielem live crib. Now in its tenth edition, it will be running during select dates until 5 January 2020, recreating the magic of the nativity and of a 2000-year-old story.

Bormla prepares for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The town of Bormla - also known as Cospicua (so renamed after the Great Siege of 1565 because of the prominent role it played during the siege) - is one of the historical Three Cities, and is well known for its annual Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is held each year on 8 December.

Virgin Mary is the patron saint of the hamlet, and as part of the celebrations, a statue of the Virgin is carried through its streets. The original statue of the Immaculate Conception was sculpted in wood in around 1680 by Suor Maria De Domenicis, and it is believed that she carved the statue from the trunk of a miraculous carob tree on which Our Lady is said to have appeared.

In the early 1900s, the statue was sent to Milan for parts of the statue to be clad in silver by the workshop Antonio Ghezzi e Figli, who carried out the proposed alterations. During World War II, it was decided to transport the statue together with other prized works of art to Birkirkara in order to protect them from the constant air raids on Cospicua. It was declared that if the Cospicua parish church and oratory were spared from destruction during the war, a pilgrimage would take place to bring the statue back. So it was.

As the parish church was still standing after the war, on November 19, 1944, both the statue and works of art were brought back to Cospicua followed by crowds of devotees. The pilgrimage passed though Birkirkara, Ħamrun, Blata l-Bajda and Paola on its way to Cospicua.

Today, the statue continues to form a central part of the annual festa, accompanying celebrations that kick off almost a week before as lights are hung, banners unfurled and icons of the saint taken out and proudly exhibited across balconies and in windows.

Bormla (Cospicua), alongside Isla (Sengla) and Birgu (Vittoriosa) comprise Malta’s historical Three Cities - some of the oldest villages on the island that have been inhabited since Neolithic times.