'Għamlulna ġieh: Klement Tabone (c.1575 - 1665)'
Editor: Reuben Abela
Publisher: Witt iz-Zejtun / 2020
Pages: 94pp
At dawn on 6 July 1614, a fleet of 60 Turkish vessels with some 6,000 soldiers on board, approached Malta. First they tried to enter Marsaxlokk harbour but were faced with strong resistance from St Lucian fort.
Then the attacking fleet moved towards St Thomas Bay and Marsascala since the St Thomas Fort had not been built yet and landed there.
The invading force, led by the Armenian Ali Pasha, rushed to Zabbar and desecrated the Tal-Grazzja sanctuary. Then, on their way back to the sea, they attacked the old parish church of Żejtun, which we all know as San Girgor, from the annual pilgrimage a few days after Easter.
They wrought huge damage to the church, so much so that for the next 20 years this church was unusable and it was the Santa Maria church in the heart of the old town, the Raħal t'Isfel, that was used instead.
The Maltese and the Knights put up a strong resistance and some knights, including Fra Castellan de Castellet Cornetta and some 20 Maltese were injured in the fighting. The old Gran Visconte Andrea Marconeral fought bravely but died two days later.
Around 50 Turks were caught and made prisoners while many other Turks were killed.
The Turkish fleet sailed towards the north, was rebuffed by the fort at St Paul's Bay, but finding Mellieha Bay unprotected, landed there and wrought havoc on the Mellieha Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady.
Then they left Malta. This incursion, known as Razzia, was to be the last Turkish attack on Malta.
One of the Maltese who fought valiantly to repel the Turks, so much so that he was mentioned in the official chronicles of the times, was Klement Tabone who at that time lived in Vittoriosa but who had connections with Żejtun.
The main battle between Turks and Maltese took place in the area today known as Taċ-Ċawsli between Żejtun and Żabbar. It would seem that Klement lost his sword around there and his situation was quite dire.
That was when he made a vow that if he was to emerge unscathed he would build a church there. He survived and he kept his vow. Fittingly, he dedicated the church to his patron saint.
Till today the church is the starting point of the annual diocesan pilgrimage known as San Girgor on the Wednesday following Easter.
The pilgrimage is rather truncated today - in olden times it would start from the Tarxien church and included all the confraternities. The end point is always the same - the old parish church of Żejtun, which everybody wrongly calls San Girgor.
The pilgrimage has been kept for hundreds of years but nobody seems to agree what was it that sparked it off. Some say it's in thanksgiving for salvation from an attack by the Turks, others say it's in thanksgiving for salvation from the plague. The last reason I heard was that it was a national prayer for peace between Christian kings and, though it may seem strange, this looks like the real cause.
This slim book is one of a series of booklets published by the NGO Wirt iż-Żejtun Għamlulna Ġieh. It contains articles by historian Fr Joe Abela, plus one by Dr Anton Bugeja, while the NGO's Ruben Abela adds his own take from the buildings around the church.
Squeezed from parish records and notarial documents we find out much information on Klement. The front cover is a detail from the altarpiece of the church itself, attributed to Stefano Erardi. It shows Klement at prayer, dressed as a wealthy person of that time
But the details that emerge are quite something. It is revealed that Klement had household slaves, most probably bought from captured vessels.
And then the absolute bombshell, Klement's son, Angelo, a son born outside marriage, was murdered the day after Klement's death, maybe for inheritance reasons.