Chris_at_Work's Most Recent Favorites

Bingemma Gap, Malta

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:59:04 Z

by nevinja "Bingemma Valley is a historic and natural site in the North West part of Malta. The human presence in the area dates back more than two millenia. The main highlights of the area are archaeological sites, notably the rock-cut tombs which lie throughout the area. The easiest to find are those beneath Binġemma's 17th century church, a delightful wayside chapel dedicated to Our Lady Of Ittria. Other tombs lie just below the Fault in the aptly named Valley of Tombs. The ravine here is a honeycomb of Punic crypts. The area also has a set of the Islands' enigmatic cart ruts, parallel tracks cut out of the rock in prehistoric times. The ruts here are more baffling than elsewhere since they rise steeply uphill. Of more recent historic heritage are the Victoria Lines"

Valletta (combined synths)

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:01:18 Z

by KMRBJL "This synth is made up of the composition of synths done in Valletta by the KMRBJL students. It included Auberge de Castille, the monument to Prime Minister Boffa, the Chapel of Our Lady of Victory and the Chapel of St. Catherine."

Our Lady of Victory Church, Valletta

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:52:30 Z

by KMRBJL "This was the first church built in Valletta. It was built on the spot where a religious ceremony was held to inaugurate the laying of the foundation stone of the new city on 28th March 1566, and commemorates the victory over the Turks during the so-called 'Great Siege' of 1565. Grand Master La Valette was originally buried here, and his remains were later transferred to St John's Co-Cathedral. In 1617 it became the Parish Church of the Order. Changes were made in 1752 and the facade, the sacristy, the belfry and the parish priest's house were enlarged. The church originally had two altars - one dedicated to St John the Baptist and the other to St Paul. Two other altars were built during the latter part of the eighteenth century. The church suffered a lot of deterioration over the years, both to its structure and to the paintings which include works by Francesco Zahra, Ermenegildo Grech and Enrico Arnaux. In 2000 a joint project was set up between Din l-Art Helwa, the Valletta Rehabilitation Project and the Museums Department to carry out restoration work on the structure and the paintings. Shortly afterwards restoration was carried out on the roof, finials and part of the belfry, which was sponsored by Computime. The restoration of the external structure was completed in 2004 thanks to a major sponsorship by PricewaterhouseCoopers."