Restoration and conservation work on the chapel dedicated to St Bartholomew in Zurrieq are entering their final phase, Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit said yesterday.
Speaking during an on-site visit, he said that his ministry had restored a large number of chapels including the Cwerra Chapel in Siggiewi, St James in Zurrieq and Luqa, St Mary Magdalene in Dingli and St Roque in Mdina, among others.
Minister Zammit said that the greatest damage sustained to the chapel was a covering of cement that was applied to the outer walls and had seeped into the original stone. He said that the restoration process included the removal of cement from the walls and other interventions to the roof and cupola.
Work began last month and is expected to finish by the end of June. Other ongoing projects currently being carried out include the chapel of St Lucy in Mtarfa, St Gregory in Zejtun and other chapels in Mqabba and Floriana.
The late Baroque church of St Bartholomew at Xarolla, Zurrieq, was built in the second half of the 18th century, on the site of an earlier chapel which had been constructed by the magistrate Dionisio Mangion some years prior to 1487.