A guide through

MOSTA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wou

ld lik

e to

exp

ress

my

grat

itude

to m

y tu

tors

Ado

lf Fo

rmos

a an

d Tr

udy

Kerr

who

saw

me

thro

ugh

this

pro

ject

an

d ta

lked

thin

gs o

ver;

to a

ll tho

se w

ho p

rovid

ed s

uppo

rt,

read

, offe

red

com

men

ts, a

nd a

ssis

ted

in th

e ed

iting,

pr

oofre

adin

g an

d de

sign

of t

his

edito

rial.

Also

, I w

ould

like

to h

earti

ly th

ank

my

fam

ily fo

r the

ir m

oral

su

ppor

t thr

ough

this

fina

l yea

r.

table of contentstable of contents

Rotunda of Mosta

Valley of Honey

Valley and Chapel of Good Hope

‘San Pawl tal-Qlejja’

Chilling at Mosta’s Square

Fireworks from the Bridge

Victoria Lines Walk Guide

Recomandations List to Wine and Dine

introductionintroduction

The

aim

for t

his

publ

icat

ion,

is to

eng

age

the

read

ers

with

the

hist

ory

of M

osta

. Thi

s ite

nara

ry g

ives

the

owne

r the

opp

ortu

nity

to w

alk

alon

g W

ied

il-G

hase

l (Th

e Va

lley

of H

oney

) whi

le m

akin

g st

opes

to s

ome

of th

e ch

apel

s th

at h

ave

been

sta

ndin

g be

fore

the

Wor

ld W

ar I.

As

for

thos

e w

ho a

re lo

okin

g to

enj

oy a

diff

eren

t sid

e of

Mos

ta’s

cul

ture

, can

fin

d a

list o

f rec

oman

ded

site

s of

inte

rest

s an

d al

so a

wid

e se

lect

ion

of re

stau

rant

s, b

ars

and

win

e ba

rs to

cho

ose

from

.

mosta rotunda

mosta rotunda

The name Mosta or Musta is of ancient origin. Some have even claimed it links up with the ledgendary Atlantis. A variety of meanings have been appended to it. These include the “Mysterious Vilage”, the “hidden place” or the more widely accepted “the central place”.Mosta, as a village,never stood much chance of develping until the late 17th century. The main reason was that it wa all too accessible to marauding pirates who could easily make their way to Mosta via Salina or Bahar ic-Caghaq. Standard precaustions included , in those days, easily contact with a fortified place, refuge wihin the extremly stongly, -built farms or, more frequent, refuge behind massive walls and doors of the local paris church. The Rotunda of Mosta was formally blessed on the 16th Febuary, 1860 and dismantaling commenced two days later. Just eight days of intensive work was all that was needed to remove all traces of the old church and one could now see clearly the vast size of the new church.

The first mass to be celebrated in the Rotunda was said on the 26th Febuary of 1860, on the first Sunday of Lent, as it happened, The celebrant in the Rotunda was said Mons. Micheal Angelo Mifsud. This marked the intensive the end of twenty-seven years of intensive toil. It must always be borne in the mind that apart from a few primitve blocks and tackel, and mule power, human brawn and sweat was all that was used in this structure.

If one enters the church via either of the two laterial doors, one notes that the ceiling of each vestibule is domeshaped. These domes are worked into the actual stonework and cannot be seen from the outise. “

On

e can

still see, in

th

e

sacristy

of th

e R

otu

nd

a, th

e

sh

ell of a 1000 K

g. bom

b th

at

crash

ed

th

rou

gh

th

e d

om

e in

1942”

Mosta’s SquareHope StreetValley of HoneyChapel of Hope

Lik

e a h

erm

it aw

ay

from

people,

am

on

g th

e trees an

d bu

sh

es

gon

e to earn

a livin

g

Th

e son

h

ave fin

ish

ed

from

w

ork

in

g in

tow

ns,

Th

e last farm

er in

th

e V

alley

of H

on

ey

is I.

Go d

ow

n in

th

e V

alley

of H

on

ey

th

ose w

ere th

e d

ay

s

as people com

e to rest

Abon

den

d fou

rth

bu

t reserved

for gu

n w

h

un

tin

g d

ogs

du

rin

g th

e d

ove’s

season

After th

e plow

I w

ork

in

silen

ce

th

e last farm

er in

th

e V

alley

of H

on

ey

is I

For sn

ails or flow

ers

th

ym

e from

rock

in

descen

d in

th

e V

alley

of H

on

ey

visitin

g on

Su

nd

ay

s

It w

as a d

ry

season

, both

su

ffered

fru

it

an

d for an

y price-m

y w

ork

?

Th

ese last few

d

ays I tired

beh

in

d th

e plow

I w

ork

in

silen

ce

th

e last farm

er in

th

e V

alley

of H

on

ey

is I

valley of honeyvalley of honey

““

Mosta’s SquareBridge StreetValley of HoneySaint Paul’s Hermit Chapel

valley & chapel

of good hope

valley & chapel

of good hopeThe chapel was built between 1760 and 1761 in the Renaissance style with an octagonal interior. The titular of Our Lady of Good Hope is by Rocco Buhagiar (c.1725-1805) while in the sacristy is found another painting of Our Lady of Good Hope, this time by Giuseppe Calì (1846-1930). Enlargement of the parvis took place in 1898 while the underlying cave was cleaned and renovated in 1913. Ten years later the church and sacristy were paved with marble. The cave, which is as well kept as the chapel itself, contains stone statues of the Archangel Michael, a kneeling maiden praying and the evangelists Luke and John.

Mosta’s SquareHope StreetValley of HoneyChapel of Hope

If th

is ch

urch

is n

ice

from

th

e ou

tsid

e, it’s

even

more on

th

e in

sid

e. Its

roof is m

ad

e from

an

old

sy

stem

an

d m

ad

e w

ith

great precision

. Its th

e best

evid

en

ce of th

e artistic

capacity

of th

e arch

itect

an

d it’s

bu

ild

ers.

‘San PAW

L TAL -QLEJGHA

‘San PAW

L TAL -QLEJGHA’ An Other sweet church to find within the limits

of Mosta is the one dedicated to St. Paul, which is exactly half Qlejgħa Valley (Chadwick Lakes). This church for this reason is known as the Qliegħa Paul (or Qlejja). Is sometimes also known as the Minġiba. This church offers one of the most beautiful squares environmental mlewwna between Rabat and Mosta.

The church draws the attention of anyone who is going through these areas because it is cut off from buildings and surrounded only by open countryside. It seems that was built around the year 1690 to replace other more old. Under the pastoral visits of bishops who visited this church,

each year was celebrated feast of Conversion of St. Paul. It was also a cemetery where they were buried many people inħawi.Fuq the altar, there was a painting of St. Peter and St. Paul. Over time however, the lack of interest led to the abandonment of this church. Made so long until we see it today was built in the seventeenth century. The church was blessed by Father Ferdinando Casteletti on 9 February of 1695.This church has a wonderful Baroque architecture. Seems to have been built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when this style was in full swing in our islands.

The frontispiece of which has a unique style, that there is no other like him in our islands. Instead as usual accustomed to see that this should rise to tip in the central part, in this case rises and falls in the middle sides, to give space to spire. On one side climb two flames on each side of the stone. The spire, which at one time had a bell hung in it, is very nice and is carved into its sides.

Mosta’s SquareMain Street‘San Pawl tal-Qlejja’‘San Pawl tal-Qlejja’ Chapel

Chilling at the

Rotunda square

chilling at the

rotunda squareAfter a long walk around the Valley one might be getting hungry. Where ever you are at in Mosta one can easily find it’s way to the Times Square. There are several dinner, restaurants. There are also available small take away shops that sell the mostly know traditional Maltese cheese cake that will go down perfectly with a cup of coffee. For those who are looking for a relaxing after noon they can also visit the winebars that are available in this square.

(A list of all the wine bars and restaurants is provided on page 34 and 35)

Eucharistic Congress StreetMosta’s Square

The Feast of Assumption is celebrated across the Maltese Islands on the 15th August every year and is also known as the feast of Santa Marija.

The day is marked by a public holiday and feasts are held in numerous towns and vil-lages in Malta and Gozo to mark the ascent of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Proces-sions are held, with brass bands playing plus firework displays and traditional food stalls selling nougat and ice cream.

The day also commemorates the arrival of the Santa Marija convoy during the Second World War, an event which paved the way for the Maltese Islands fight back against possible invasion and occupation. Until the convoy arrived, the Maltese people were close to starvation and surrender, but the small British convoy of fifteen ships that barely made it to Malta brought relief in the form of food, provisions and ammunition. The convoy’s arrival was

deemed miraculous since all previous attempts resupply Malta had failed. Mosta (or Il-Mosta) is a town situated in the middle of the island of Malta, to the north-west of Valletta. In 2010, it had a reported population of 19,018. Mosta celebrates the feast of the Assumption every 15 August, popular among both the locals and the tourists. The town has many legends such as the Mosta Bride (L-Gharusa tal-Mosta) and a lot of historical places such as the Victoria Lines and medieval chapels. Mosta has its own scouts and girl guides as well as two band clubs (Nicolo’ Isouard and Santa Marija) and two fire works factories that make spectacular fire works. A lot of traffic passes through Constitution Street, one of Mosta’s main streets which connects the South to the North.

fir

ew

orks from a brid

ge

fir

ew

orks from a brid

ge

On

e can

tak

e a

closer look

at

firew

ork

s th

at

are h

eld

d

urin

g

th

is ou

td

oor

feast, by

goin

g

on

th

e brid

ge

at C

on

stitu

tion

Street

Mosta’s SquareConstitution StreetArche’s Bridge

vic

toria

lin

es w

alk giu

de

vic

toria

lin

es w

alk giu

de Walking along the Victoria Lines Malta and the route between the Dwejra Lines to the

Falka Gap and then on to the Targa Gap (Mosta) is a short stroll. If you are hiking the route from the Dwejra Lines to the Targa Gap then it is downhill.

If you are walking along the Victoria Lines Malta route from West to East you will suddenly notice something that you have not heard for a long time. The sound of a lot of traffic. From the peace and quiet of the western side of Malta, you hear a growing noise.

It really shows how omnipresent the background noise of cars and commercial life is. Only late at night do you also hear something similar if you live in a town.

If you are walking the Victoria Lines Malta route from East to West, from Madliena to Fomm Ir-Rih (Kuncizzjoni) then this is the start of the real countryside of Malta, as soon as you get across the main road leading from Mosta to Mgarr and up to the Dwejra Lines. At the Eastern end of the Dwejra Lines nearly the whole of the North, East and parts of the south of Malta appear into view. You are just under halfway of the walking the Victoria Lines Malta but the route gets (mostly) much easier from now on. Apart from a couple of lung buster climbs across the Wieds (Valleys/Wadi’s) at Ghargur!

But as the Victoria Lines Malta are a defensive fortification of walls, trenches and forts built across the Island of Malta you can not just go straight ahead at this point. To carrying on walking the route of the Victoria Lines Malta from Dwejra to Targa Gap (Mosta) you need to go south about 100 yards along the road and through this gap in another part of the wall. Then walk round and leave the tarmac road and go onto the dirt road.

“M

altese fortified

d

efen

sive

walls, bu

ilt by

th

e B

ritish

an

d

fin

ish

ed

in

th

e y

ear of Q

ueen

Victoria’s

D

iam

on

d Ju

bilee

(1897).”

recomandations list

TO DINE AND WINE

recomandations list

TO DINE AND WINE

Ta Dumin

ka Restaurant

Triq Il-K

bira,

Mosta

Ta Maria

restaurant

Triq il K

ostu

tu

zjon

i,

Mosta

Pia

zza Cafe restaurant

Rotu

nd

a Sq

uare,

Mosta

Tim

e Out Restaurant

Mosta R

oad

,

Mosta

oZ Sofra restaurant

Triq il K

ostu

tu

zjon

i,

Mosta

Il-Vecchio

Forno w

ine bar

Eu

ch

arist C

on

gress Street,

Mosta

Lord Nelson w

ine bar

Triq Il-K

bira,

Mosta

Horse Shoe Bar and Restaurant

Vjal il-Q

albin

M

ostin

,

Mosta

Ir- Razzett L-Ahmar bAR ANd Restaurant

Triq D

uru

mblat,

Mosta

Dim

ples Bar and Restaurant

Pjazza S-Sittax

T

a` Settem

bru

,

Mosta

Extra tim

e sports bar and gril

l

Triq Il-K

bira,

Mosta

is-Cit

y bar

Triq Il-K

bira,

Mosta

Mellw

s Din

ner

Rotu

nd

a Sq

uare,

Mosta

The Olympic

Din

ner

Rotu

nd

a Sq

uare,

Mosta

Premie

r Passtiz

eria

Rotu

nd

a Sq

uare,

Mosta

Marietta Mifsud

Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Graphic Design and Interactive Media

2012-2013

Il-Mosta is situated in the centre of Malta. It is located on a plain and is surrounded by fertile agricultural land. Neighbouring villages and towns include Hal Lija, Burmarrad, ir-Rabat and in-Naxxar. Il-Mosta is found on the main route from il-Belt Valletta to ic-Cirkewwa and experiences daily heavy traffic flows from north to south and vice versa. Il-Mosta is 9 km away from the capital city of Malta, il-Belt Valletta.

Il-Mosta is in continuous development, new buildings are erected every day and the business community is quite active and flourishing. The population at about 18,000 inhabitants is one of the highest in the Maltese islands and has been given a boost in the last decades of the twentieth century by the establishment of a number of new housing estates.