The annual celebration in honour of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary at the medieval chapel of Hal Millieri (Zurrieq) will be held on Sunday 30 March. The chapel will be open to the public from 9am to 6pm. Holy Mass will be celebrated at 10am, followed by the blessing of the burials inside the chapel and the adjoining churchyard. Din l-Art Helwa, the heritage organisation that holds the chapel in trust, will be offering two guided tours of the site by volunteer historians Dr Stanley Farrugia Randon at 11am and Salvatore Mousu` at 3pm.

The chapel of the Annunciation at Hal Millieri is the most important historical monument of Malta’s medieval past. The present edifice dates to around 1450, and excavations have shown that it was built over the site of an earlier, possibly 13th century chapel, and a much older late-Roman rural complex. The Hal Millieri chapel is best known for its medieval architectural elements, and especially for the unique set of frescoes that adorn its side walls between the springing of the arches. The anachronistic cycle of effigies of saints, which is believed to have been copied from the earlier primitive chapel, have been expertly restored through the efforts of Din l-Art Helwa, are Malta’s best example of medieval vernacular religious art.

The Hal Millieri chapel is best reached either via Zurrieq by taking the first right hand turn after leaving the Blue Grotto Avenue fountain roundabout; or down Diamond Jubilee Square on the Mqabba bypass.