The restoration of Annunication Chapel – the chapel next to the Laferla Cross in the limits of Siġġiewi – has missed its October 2024 deadline due to various factors, including structural problems which were only revealed when restoration works began, Parliament was told on Tuesday.
The government and the Archdiocese of Malta had reached an agreement to restore the historic church to save it from collapse. Restoration works began in October 2023, on the strength of a planning permit obtained by the archdiocese’s administrative secretary Michael Pace Ross two years prior.
It was originally announced that the project would take a year to complete, but that deadline has come and gone.
In this context, Nationalist Party MP and Siġġiewi resident Ryan Callus asked heritage minister Owen Bonnici for information, leading the minister to confirm that the deadline had been missed.
He said that the delay was due to “factors that emerged during restoration works which included archaeological finds, the need to revise plans, additional work required due to hidden structural issues, days in which no work could be carried out because of bad weather and the nature of the site.”
As a result of these factors, the original restoration contract has been extended until July 2025.
Bonnici, however, indicated that this new deadline is also likely to be missed: “at present, for similar reasons, we are considering the need to extend the time period further.”
The minister did not indicate what additional costs were being incurred as a result of the extension and the issues that emerged: the project was originally slated to cost €1.4 million.
A beloved chapel, on unsteady ground
It may well be that the Laferla Cross made the site a landmark, but the hill now known as “l-Għolja tas-Salib” has hosted a chapel for a far longer time. But the site’s location – not least the soft ground on which it is built – has required the chapel to be rebuilt from scratch on multiple occasions.
A chapel dedicated to the annunciation is known to have existed on the hill – then known as Ta’ Għemmuna – by the 15th century, and a mediaeval chapel is known to have been rebuilt in 1494. The chapel’s location on one of the country’s highest points made it a key landmark, especially among sailors who would have seen it as they approached the island from the south west.
The 15th century chapel was replaced two centuries later, with a chapel built between 1680 and 1681, but was extensively damaged in the 1693 earthquake which devastated southern Sicily and caused extensive damage in Malta, notably severely damaging the mediaeval cathedral in Mdina and leading to its demolition and replacement with the Baroque church that remains to this day.
Another earthquake – the 1856 Heraklion earthquake which killed hundreds of people in Crete but which also damaged various structures in Malta – destroyed the 17th century chapel for good.
Yet another earthquake, in September 1923, once more extensively damaged the church, was was subsequently restored.
But the ravages of time have continued to take their toll on the chapel, necessitating the extensive restoration works that are presently underway.
Meanwhile, the Laferla Cross – popularly known as Is-Salib tal-Għolja – dates back to 1903; its English name recalls Fr Paul Laferla, the Siġġiewi priest who had proposed its construction.
Much like the neighbouring church, the cross’ history is one of deterioration and reconstruction: the 1903 cross was replaced by a replica in 1963, which was itself extensively restored in 1984.
Source: Newsbook.com.mt