Two of the three religious orders with houses in Gozo had very humble beginnings - the first members of these communities lived as hermits in caves.
Today, these caves are still there, underneath the respective convents in Victoria.
Paul Cassar was giving the first of two lectures to members of Wirt Ghawdex at the historic St Cecilia chapel last Friday.
The subject - The Friaries and churches of Augustinians, Franciscan Minor Conventuals and Capuchins in Rabat - had been the subject of his dissertation in the BA History of Art course. His present research, on the Oratory of the Onorati in Valletta seems equally, if not more, promising.
The mendicant orders began around the 13th Century and soon its early members appeared in Malta and in Gozo. In 1272, a bishop, known as Giovanni da Malta, was said to be a Franciscan. It is not known if he was Maltese.
The Augustinians appeared in Malta around 1300, residing at Mdina. Then some Augustinians crossed over to Gozo where they lived as hermits without having any superior among them.
It may have been that the first friars were not all residing around Victoria. There are reports of a chapel dedicated to Sancta Maria Gaudiorum in Xaghra, where a wall under Triq Gajdoru and the name itself of the road are the only extant remains from that time.
Later, the Augustinians built their church in the area known as Tomba in Rabat with the main altarpiece by Mattia Preti or his bottega. It-Tomba was a burial ground, since it was at a safe distance from the Castello (the Cittadella). In the early 20th Century these tombs were removed so that the Don Bosco Oratory could be built.
The early caves where the hermits lived are still to be found in the cellars of the priory.
The first members of the Franciscan Minor Conventuals too lived in caves that are still to be found underneath the priory. The first superior was chosen on 29 March 1478. This first site too was outside the Castello.
The community was mentioned in a 1495 will when it consisted of 12 friars. In 1535 the chapel had its titular changed. In 1551, there was the Turkish invasion and in 1575 only three friars were mentioned but every evening, like the rest of the depleted population, they found refuge in the Cittadella.
In 1688 a confraternity was set up intending to look after the altar of the saint.
The church is today dedicated to St Anthony of Padua and in 1814, when Gozo, particularly Xaghra, was hit by the plague, some enterprising friars hauled the statue of the saint to the belfry facing Xaghra and asked for the saint's protection.
The church contains a remembrance of Grand Master de Vilhena in the room which he used when he went to Gozo.
It would seem the third community, the Capuchins, arrived later than the first two communities. The first name mentioned is Roberto da Eboli. The first Capuchins established their first convent in Floriana and then, when they decided to open up in Gozo, three sites were offered them - the Manresa area, tal-Brag area and Fomm il-Gir and the latter was chosen.
It would seem there were two pre-existing chapels on this site, both dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. They had suffered damage in the 1693 earthquake and a procession was held in thanksgiving for the end of the plague.
The church itself was completed in 1750, taking 13 years to be completed.