COOL - Mellieha

Mellieħa

Task 1

Select the Live Cam Button Below

This is an actual live monitoring of Northenmost village Mellieħa. In pairs try to guess what the main attractions of Mellieħa could be.

Check and discuss your answers with your collegues.

Task 2

See if you have managed to guess some of these attractions in the slide show below.

Task 3

Which of these attractions would you be most interested in experiencing: (a) in summer, (b) in Spring, (c) in autumn and (d) in winter?

You are going to read a text about Malta's Northenmost village Mellieħa.

Task 4

Use Multidict functions to find out the meanings of the words below. Work with a partner to try and guess what the reading text will be about.

Troglodytes, Raids, Corsairs, Parish, Pilgrimage, Pillage, Blessed, Shrine, Chapel

Task 5

Complete the Mellieħa historical BCE timeline using the app below.

Task 5

Reading Comprehension

The name Mellieħa is derived from the Semitic root m-l-ħ, which means salt. This is probably derived from the ancient Punic-Roman salt pans which existed at Mellieħa Bay. The site of the salt pans is now occupied by the Għadira Nature Reserve.

Mellieħa was first inhabited in around 3000 BC, during the Neolithic period. Several megalithic remains have been found, including the temple of Għajn Żejtuna, as well as several caves and tombs, in which tools and pottery fragments were found.

During the Roman period, troglodytes or cave dwellers began to live in the caves of Mellieħa's valleys. The cave settlements continued to exist during Byzantine rule, but were abandoned in the early medieval period. 

Mellieha was one of the ten parishes mentioned in a document of 1436, but ceased to be parish when the locality was no longer inhabited for fear of corsair raids. One of the worst raids happened in 1551 when Dragut, the Ottaman Leader led a massive attack on the Northern part of Malta and on the island of Gozo. As a result of this attack, all of Gozo and the village of Mellieħa were pillaged and the population taken as slaves. Mellieħa became a deserted place.

Mellieħa's cave church, however, was still a centre for pilgrimage. The cave church sports a painting of the Madonna which is supposed to have been painted by St. Luke himself when he was trapped on the island together with St. Paul. Important visitors both Maltese and members of the Order went on pilgrimage to this Holy place. Among these visitors one also finds Grand Masters and members of the higher clergy. The city became Parish again in 1844.

The Parish Church of Mellieha is dedicated to the Birth of Our Lady, and was built between 1881 and 1898. Local peasants who really expected to have a new church transported all the stone up to Mellieha. On the 5th September 1883, the Parish Priest, Rev Francis Maria Magri blessed the first stone of the new church. The new church was blessed by Bishop Pietro Pace on 5th September 1897. 

The Mellieħa church is worth analyzing as a lot of effort, dedication and money went into making it come about. When taking into account the economic situation of the island, the various outbreaks of epidemics such as plague and cholera and the breakout of the FirstWorld War (1914-1919), the building of the church was quite an achievement. The building continued although with some temporary stops and it was through the combined effort of the villagers and especially the parish priests that the church was ever built at all.

Mario de Vasi was a Sicilian from Catania who traded in wine between Sicily and Malta. On his regular visits to the island he always went to Mellieħa to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the sanctuary and eventually he grew so much devoted to her that he wanted to create another smaller shrine in her honour for the devotion of the many pilgrims who used to visit the sanctuary. The subterranean chapel was hewn into the rock and eventually became known as Il-Madonna tal-Grotta or tal-Għar. One needs to go down 26 steps to the first middle landing and another 26 steps before turning abruptly left to enter the underground tunnel leading further down into the chapel-crypt incorporating a fountain. 

Over the years thousands of pilgrims have visited this holy underground shrine and prayed to Il-Madonna tal-Għar, attributing to her many miraculous interventions and healings, both spiritual and temporal. Folk tales and legends abound.  One story is about the white stone statue of Our Lady with Baby Jesus. It was taken up from this chapel to the sanctuary on three different occasions and each time they found it back in its original place in the underground chapel. After that, they left it there in peace. Another story is about some young ladies who went inside the spring water galleries that run around and behind the chapel and they never came back. No traces of them were ever found.

Task 6

Answer these questions in pairs

1. What is the connection between the name 'Mellieħa' and it's history or folklore.
2. Why was Mellieħa deserted in the 1500s?
3. Why was it difficult to build the church?
4. Which two folk tales are mentioned in the passage?
5. Tell your friends about folk tales that you know from your home town or country.

Task 7

Take some time to explore the church and the sanctuary using the Mellieħa Street View button below.

Task 8

Create a blog post entitled 'A day in Mellieha' recommending it to potential tourists.

This recommendation must target and specify a specific age group.

Sources

Mario Cordina 2019