Paintings in the Sanctuary of the Virgin, Mellieħa : a selection

Abstract

The Sanctuary of the Virgin at Mellieħa has a long history, one that dates back at least seven centuries, knowing its beginnings as a humble cave-church. Of the several rock-cut churches scattered across the Maltese countryside that have a Siculo-Byzantinesque origin, the oldest and most important is the Mellieħa Sanctuary that still today retains a notable devotional significance. This is the only rock-cut church that preserves its cult image on the cliff face. The hilly landscape of Mellieħa was a significant site in the post- Muslim period of Malta’s Late Middle Ages. Mellieħa was a remote village that was substantially cut off from the central mainland; it therefore necessitated cultic centres for the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside during the re-Christianisation of the islands. It is from this context that the oldest known places of worship in Mellieħa - namely, the Sanctuary of the Virgin and the Għar San Niklaw cave complex - originated, initially, as humble complexes that were rather vernacular. The Sanctuary increased in popularity with the advent of the Knights of the Order of St John in 1530, while the more inaccessible San Niklaw cave complex was to a large extent left in its natural state. [Excerpt]