Around Siggiewi

I saw the ad in the Times of Malta for a new series of cultural tours launched by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.  I cut out the ad and it sat around on my kitchen table for a few days until I was going up to Valletta for the lunchtime concert at St Catherine's.  By then, it was past the Wednesday deadline for booking but I went down to the office in Republic street anyway to find out more about the programme.  When I walked in through the big doors that took up the whole street frontage of the converted townhouse of the office building, there was no-one at the reception desk so I wandered up the marble stairs and was greeted at the top of the stairs by a young man poking his head out of a door.  I explained why I was there.

"You're not too late," he exclaimed, "we've put on extra buses to cope with the demand and there are still a few places left on the last bus."  Another young man inside the office started telling me with enthusiasm that we were going to be shown around the inside of the PM's residence, "even the bedrooms!"

"I hope they won't still be in bed then," I muttered, wondering if I would regret putting my name down for what was starting to sound like a reality TV nightmare.  Anyway, I showed them my KartAnzjen that I have just received through the local council process using my Malta ID card and I got a reduced price.  Playing the old people's card here is magic and gets me 23 cent travel on any bus, anywhere.

So on Sunday, I got an early bus up to Valletta where I had to pick up the coach at the statue of Independence in Floriana.  When I arrived, there were six buses lined up and I was early enough to get on the first one.  Everyone else on the bus was Maltese and so the commentary was given in Malti.  Later, a friendly woman sitting next to me spoke to the guide about the fact that I couldn't speak Malti and she started to give two commentaries using both languages.  I continue to be humbled by this social skill that Maltese people have of slipping easily between the two languages.  But speaking Malti is still a symbol of Maltese pride and independence and it is the preferred language of everyday social interaction when everybody can speak it.  In my posts about the pre-history of Malta I talk about the continuing tension in choice of language between Malti, English and Italian.

First we visited Verdala palace.  There's a photo of the outside of the palace/castle heading up one of my earlier posts, and the photo that heads this one is of one of the amazing vaulted ceilings.  The ceilings and stairs were probably the most impressive aspect of this building that is now the residence of the PM and used for entertaining important visiting dignitaries.  Other rooms had very high ceilings with timber beams and the staircase was oval rather than circular and had lovely stone arches.

Next we went to two old churches in Siggiewi.  Providence church has a lovely domed ceiling and in the sacristy there is a red covered copy of a bible in Malti.  It is a small church and when we were all inside, it was a bit crowded so I didn't really take in much.  The other church we visited was medieval and has recently been restored with accolades from Din l-Art Helwa, a local NGO who are particularly concerned with Malta's heritage.  I loved the way it had been restored as a ruin rather than attempting to rebuild.  The ancient parish church had been pulled down to make way for a new church which was never built on this site.  Two interesting twisted Corinthian pillars have been reset on either side of an entrance into the old chapel where now stone carvings are on display.  To get to the site, we used a walkway through an old orange grove.

Our  final visit for the morning was to the Inquisitors Palace at Girgenti.  I have mentioned the Inquisitors palace at Birgu in a previous post.  The one at Girgenti was purely residential rather than also hosting the operations of the inquisition as it did in Birgu.  Nowadays it is the summer residence of the PM and I liked the use of the work of modern Maltese artists in the bedrooms.  For the most part, it is fairly austere as palaces go but the views down through the lovely valley are great.  When we came out of our tour into the garden, we were offered an enormous bread roll for lunch with a choice of 7-up or Coke which I devoured with relish as we walked back down the drive to our bus!

The idea behind this series of cultural tours is to enhance understanding of local culture and heritage.  It is particularly aimed at Malta residents rather than tourists and it gives access to sites that most tourists would not see.  The next tour in December is to Birgu with a trip across to Senglea in a traditional luzzu and I'm planning to book that before the deadline!