The next cultural tour, on Sunday, 25 March, will be exploring some of the most beautiful chapels in Malta, which possess many historical relics.

The tour will start with a visit to the chapel of Our Lady of Damascene in Vittoriosa, next to St Joseph Oratory, which houses a museum of the parish of St Lawrence. Participants will also be able to see the Crucifix Chapel, built in 1720 on the site of the old cemetery, and admire one of the oldest set of statues for the Good Friday procession.

The tour will then explore the church dedicated to St Anne, better known as the Monastery of Sta Scholastica, this being the residence of the Benedictine nuns. The next visit will be to the museum of Zabbar Sanctuary, which was built specifically to house the objects given to the sanctuary as gestures of devotion to Our Lady of Grace. Here, the participants will be served refreshments while listening to popular musical extracts performed by a quartet from the National Orchestra.

The participants will also be visiting the chapel of Santa Marija ta’ Bir Miftuh in Gudja, which pertains to a group of five chapels abutting each other. At the chapel of San Rokku in Zebbug, actors from Playhouse will stage a re-enactment to describe the lack of eclectic immunity from which this church suffered.

The monthly cultural tours are organised by the Tourism and Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the Malta Tourism Authority and Heritage Malta.

Transport will leave Floriana (next to the Independence Monument) and Sliema (from opposite the Nazzarene church) at 8.45am. Tickets cost Lm4.50 for adults and Lm3.50 for senior citizens and children.

Booking, together with payments, can be made by not later than noon on Wednesday, 21 March at the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, 230 Republic Street, Valletta. Further information is available from Noel D’Amato on Tel. 2123-2515.