G W LG W L The word for Għawdex in Punic inscription

Wirt Għawdex N E W S L E T T E R No 4/15

One eventful year has passed since I assumed the helm of ‘Wirt Għawdex’. It has

been a very busy year and I must say that I am now slowly getting accustomed to the way this society is run and to the challenges which the presidency offers. I am trying to do my best not to delude you all! During this year, we have continued our various restoration projects, about which you will read in this newsletter. We have continued opening our sites to visitors, and our lecture programme has been continued. We have also provided the usual help to students who do their six form ‘systems of knowledge’ project with us and continue to reply, to the best of our abilities and according to our means to the various requests for help regarding the salvaging and preservation of our national patrimony. Our monthly committee meetings at ‘Dar il-Gvernatur’ have been held regularly.

This year we have also embarked on a new initiative, that of organizing visits to prestigious exhibitions held in Malta. Our first attempt was a visit to the 1565 exhibition at the Palace in Valletta combined with a visit to Fort St Angelo. The response was very encouraging and we hope to give all of you more of the same.

I would like to conclude my short message to thank all our members for their continuous support. I would also like to publicly thank the members of our committee for their selfless contribution of their precious free time for the running of our organization. Finally I would like to remind you to renew your membership for 2016. Your support is the lifeline of our society.

Best wishes for Best wishes for Best wishes for Christmas Christmas Christmas and the and the and the

New Year New Year New Year to all of you!to all of you!to all of you!

Dr Paul G. Pisani, President

2

6 th Form

2015/16 monthly

Cultural Activities

September 2015 – ‘Concertini’ for Belgian VIPs at St. Cecilia’s Chapel The medieval chapel of St. Cecilia hosted the Schola Cantorum Jubi-late, a private youth choir which is currently celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. The Gozitan choir was invited by On Site (Events Agency in Malta) to perform a short recital to each of five groups of tourists, as part of a cultural excursion on our idyllic island. These groups were composed of Belgian VIPs from a prominent company. The recitals started from 9 in the morning until around 2 in the afternoon, with each of the five groups attending for the performance at the time allotted to them. The choral repertoire consisted of pieces a cappella in SATB amongst which ‘Tina l-Ħlewwa’ and ‘Nadurawk ja Ħobż tas-Sema’ (Caruana), Even Such is Time’ (Chilcott), ‘Ave Maria’ (Arcadelt) and ‘If Ye Love Me’ (Tallis) and classical pieces: ‘Panis Angelicus’ (Franck) and ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ (Mozart). Choir director and soprano Marouska Attard interpreted ‘O Mio Signor’ (Handel) while John Anthony Fsadni ac-companied on the piano.

From the Secretary’s Diary……..

As in previous years, we are providing an op-portunity for 6th formers to visit our sites as part of their mandatory cultural activities. Students have already visited the Mgarr ix-Xini Tower and the St. Cecilia chapel where a short history of the site is given to them.

December will see this year ‘s group of 13 6th formers finishing their Systems of Knowledge project with us. They each had to do a mini-mum of 12 visits of 2 hours each. After each visit, they are required to do a short write-up of the work they did and what values they practised doing that particular work. As can be imagined, it can be quite a challenge to come up with so many different areas of work to assign to the students so as to expose them to a variety of required skills and values. However, we feel the work is worth it since we are really investing in the future custodians of our heritage.

For many of them, it is their first close focus on our heritage and this work helps them to see first-hand how essential and important it is for them to be involved if it is to be preserved for future generations.

For the fourth year, events were held at our Santa Cecilia chapel to commemorate the feastday of St. Cecilia. This year the organization was a joint effort between 3 NGO’s—Wirt Ghawdex, the Fondazzjoni Santa Ce-cilia and the Ghajnsielem Band Club. Events were spread over three days and included a Mass at the chapel held by the Ghajsielem Bank Club and a musi-

cal event, spread over two evenings , organized by Fondazzjoni Santa Cecilia.. The concertino featured mezzo soprano Marthese Borg, guitar-ist Frank Buhagiar and conductor Antoine Mercieca under the artistic direction of George Mizzi.

The whole event was enjoyed by all those who attended and plans are already underway for a repeat next year.

3

Over the last two months, we have had two courtesy visits to our Headquar-ters. One was from the Leader of the Oppostion Dr. Simon Busuttil and the other was from the PN Gozo Candi-dates. At both visits, our society’s work was explained to the visitors and ongo-ing and future projects discussed . Surprise was expressed by the visitors at the amount of work that is being ac-complished by a relatively small NGO and they expressed their full support of our work.

Gozo in Print (16) by John Cremona Executive Committee Member of Wirt Għawdex

And where are the Gozitans? Those of you who are following this series of articles about Gozo in print will justly ask “And where are the Gozitans?” We have seen a number of views of Gozo but its people rarely feature. I know of only three engravings which deal specifically with the Gozitans and their way of attire. In this article I shall be describing the most important one because apart from the picture we also have a detailed description of the author/artist. Once again I am featuring an engraving by Jean Houel taken from his famous four volume work ‘Voyage Pittoresque des iles de Sicilie, de Malte et de Lipari’ published in 1786. The print is divided into two parts; the upper part shows costumes of Gozitan males and females whilst the lower part shows a plan of the Ggantija Temples and the Xaghra Stone Circle as they appeared during the time of Houel’s visit to Gozo. This means that the plans show the Ggantija Temples before the clearing operation carried out by John Otto Bayer and before the destruction of the Xaghra Stone Circle. Houel’s description of Gozitan men and women is rather unique if not also surprising. ‘One has the purpose to show the headdresses of some of the inhabitants of Gozo, in which I believe I have discerned the origin of the North African Turban; they are quite simple woolen caps: some of the men, especially those who are older, tie these caps with a small scarf around their heads and add to this an ornament which gives them a slight suggestion of the turban, and which constitutes a transition from our headdress to that of the Africans, just as the island forms a passage from one continent to the other’. Houel who was accustomed to the high fashion of the Parisian court, describes in great detail the costume of Gozitan women, particularly those he saw filling water at the wash house of Gran Fontana and those he saw returning from the fields after a days’ work; ‘The other figure is no less singular: I have drawn it using as a model the women I have seen in the countryside with their heads covered, because of the dust which they would otherwise inhale. They make sure of not breathing it in by covering their mouths with the same handkerchief with which they have covered their heads and which they tie behind their necks…I take advantage of the same figure to give an idea of the manner in which certain local women I have seen are corseted; they have bodices which come only to the base of the neck and which they fasten in such a way that their necks are totally free; but this they cover with a simple but ample fichu, quite transparent…….The effect is not all unpleasant’. He then turns to describe the Gozitans in general and says that they are very beautiful in their form; ‘All the women and young girls living nearby come there (Lunzjata fountain) either to wash their linen or to draw water. I noticed a great number of very pretty girls and women, who confirmed my opinion, which I had already formed, of the beauty of the Gozitan people…….’ On Houel’s description of the Gozitans we will resume in another article. The engraving is entitled Coeffures et costumes de quelques homes et femmes de l’ Isle du Goze – Plan de deux edifices antiques a et b and bears the number CCLI (251). It measures 375mm x 260mm. The original watercolours made by Houel on which the engravings are based are to be found in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Author’s note : English translation of the Jean Houel text made by William Driscoll taken from the publication

of the facsimile of by Wirt Ghawdex 1999

BLAST FROM THE PAST

4

Archaeologists return to Santa Verna, Xaghra after 104 years

By Rowan McLaughlin, Simon Stoddart and Caroline Malone

In 1906, the archaeologist Thomas Ashby was elected as the director of the British School at Rome. At around this time, the importance of systematic, scientific excavation of ancient ruins was beginning to be recog-nised; Howard Carter for example was exploring the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, and in Crete, Arthur Evans of the British School at Athens had completed his pioneering ex-cavation of the Palace of Knossos. The Knossos excava-tion had been particularly successful in applying the idea of stratigraphy – the study of how layers of soil and debris build up over time – a technique which leads to an under-standing of when sites were built, and how they were abandoned. Thomas Ashby was keen to develop the ar-chaeological remit of the British School at Rome, perhaps because of friendly rivalry with the School at Athens. How-ever, at that time digging in Italy was virtually impossible for logistic, political and bureaucratic reasons so instead, Ashby turned his gaze to Malta – then of course still ‘British soil’. He befriended Professor Themistocles Zam-mit, whose excavations at the Ħal-Saflien hypogeum were yielding spectacular results, and who guided Ashby through several reconnaissances to the islands.

In 1911, Ashby arrived in Gozo, intending to dig at Santa Verna. This was the site of a medieval chapel dedicated to St. Verena, and had been recognised as a prehistoric site by a worker at the Gozo Public Works Department, Mr Nicola Said, and the antiquarian Father Emmanuel Magri. But why was Ashby interested in this site, a battered monument, and where only a few large stones from the temple survived above the ground? It is likely he was hoping that the site was still relatively intact below the ground, and would yield important information about Gozo’s prehistoric past when studied using the principles of stratigraphy. The ruinous state of the monument was almost a blessing – the sequence of de-posits under the site could be studied without the labour of moving enormous stones to and fro – unlike nearby Ggantija for example, excavation at Santa Verna could be performed yielding a maximum of gain with the minimum of effort. Perhaps Ashby recognised that the site could be key to unlocking the mystery of how and why the Maltese temples were built, and why they were abandoned. For Ashby, however, a twist of fate intervened. He fell ill with dysentery almost as soon as the ground was opened and was forced to retire from the excavation – his assistant, Robert Bradley completed the excavation in his stead. Bradley was what we would now term a biological anthropologist, interested in how the physical character-istics of the human body reflect things like culture, upbringing and ancestry. Happily for him, when his work-ers opened a mound of earth on the southern edge of the temple, skeletal remains of an adult male and a child were found, with hints of further burials underneath. Bradley mistakenly assumed the skeletons were prehistoric, even though they were clearly buried under some sort of Christian rite – they were orientated east-west and buried in an extended position, unlike the flexed position favoured by our prehistoric ances-tors during ancient times. Besides, in the early 20th century, it was impossible to date bones scientifically (it is now), so Bradley had no independent way to check whether the skeletons and the temple dated to the same period of history. While Bradley pontificated and pondered questions of race and identity in prehistoric Malta – work that ulti-mately came to nothing -- his labourers revealed a remarkable sequence of intact floors that lay a few centi-metres below the ground at Santa Verna. These findings were recorded and written up to a high standard, although arguably, without the guiding hand of Thomas Ashby, the overall significance of the site was missed.

Thomas Ashby and workers at Santa Verna in 1911

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6

In the 1960s, Dr David Trump, then the curator of the national museum, recognised the importance of the 1911 excavations Santa Verna. Dr Trump was establishing a pottery chronology for the islands, working out the order in which the various kinds of prehistoric pottery styles were used. Trump, although making excellent progress, still had gaps in his sequence, and hoped that Santa Verna, with its stratified sequence of floors, may help fill some of them. So, in 1961, he dug a series of small ‘test pits’ at the site, and not only was he able to confirm Bradley’s sequence, he was able to date some of the lower soils to the Zebbug pe-riod (4100 to 3800 BC), whereas the floors of the temple itself dated to the Ggantija period (3600 to 3100 BC) or the Tarxien period (3100 to 2400 BC). Clearly, the site had been in use for a very long time in pre-history. Despite these promising results, after 1961 the site was again forgotten by archaeologists. The 1990s however saw a renewed interest in Gozo, firstly through field survey work by Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart that revealed the environs of Santa Verna contained an unusually high quantity of prehistoric pot-tery. This project evolved through various phases, including the excavation of the Brochtorff Circle hypo-geum in Xaghra, and led eventually to the successful award of European Research Council funds to inves-tigate the archaeological dimensions of fragility and sustainability in restricted island environments such as Malta and Gozo. Known as the FRAGSUS project, this funding allowed for new excavations to be under-taken, in order to recover samples of soil and animal bones, the analysis of which would shed new light on the ancient past.

Thus in the spring of 2015, archaeologists once again returned to Santa Verna. Whereas Ashby and Brad-ley hired local labour, in 2015 the excavation crew consisted of students from the universities of Malta, Cambridge and Queen’s Belfast, working under the supervision of the current authors. Once rubbish and debris covering the site was cleared, the old excavation trenches of 1911 were located and re-opened – a back-breaking task, as the 1911 workers had backfilled their trenches with stones. One of the ‘test pits’ dug

by Trump in 1961 was also reopened. Once again, the stratified sequence of floors became visible; this time however, new technology would be brought to bear on the deposits. Samples of soil were taken away to the laboratory for numerous kinds of chemical and compositional analyses. When this work is completed, it will allow us to say more about how and why people managed the prehistoric environment of Gozo, and dealt with all of life’s challenges, such as securing an adequate supply

Workers at Santa Verna in 2015

7

of food and water in the face of a changing environment. Analysis of the animal bones dug-up at Santa Verna (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were all farmed in Gozo thousands of years ago) will allow us to recon-struct the livestock economies of the time. The site was surveyed using 3D digital laser scanning, recording the layout of the site and the various levels within it with millimetre accuracy. This was combined with a ‘traditional’ drawn plan – Thomas Ashby would approve – but made with the help of modern survey technology that fixed the position and orientation of the site so that it can be accurately compared to other sites and features in the landscape. The excavation was therefore a great success, and over the next two years we will be able to report on new scientific discoveries made using the material unearthed at Santa Verna. Aside from the scientific value of the excavations, the FRAGSUS team were delighted in the interest taken in the site by visitors and members of the public, and it was our pleasure to be able to explain to passers-by the significance of the various layers of soil and stones that we were digging up. The results of the excava-tion will be published in 2017. Anyone with thoughts to share about Santa Verna, or details of any local tradi-tions concerning the site, can contact the FRAGSUS team by email: fragsus@qub.ac.uk

Rowan McLaughlin is a research fellow in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology,

Queen’s University Belfast.

Simon Stoddart is Reader in Prehistory, University of Cambridge.

Caroline Malone is Professor of Prehistory, Queen’s University Belfast. This work is supported by

the European Research Council seventh framework programme (ref 323727).

Photograph of the 2015 excavations, showing an apse of the Santa Verna temple

8

Christmas waves a magic wand over the world and sprinkles young and old alike with excitement and a

sense of goodwill. Traditions associated with this special time of the year have changed over the years but

they remain a source of enjoyment and anticipation.

Decorating our homes is a relatively new tradition and today, it is more likely to

find many decorations which have no religious meaning and say nothing about

what Christmas is really all about - the birth of baby Jesus. While many houses

today are decorated with Fibre Optic Christmas trees and flashing lights , our

parents remember decorations as being more low-tech and simple. People

used to make or buy clay statues (pasturi) representing the holy family and the

three shepherds as some still do now. Most families made their own ‘nativity

cave’ from a variety of easily obtained materials such as rustic stones, wood,

carpenter's glue, paint and paper mache. Vetches (gulbiena) were a widely

used decoration both at homes and in churches and are still quite popular today in public places and

churches. The planting had to be planned well ahead of time, specifically no later than December 8. The

tradition is to sow wheat or grain, placed on cotton buds for about five weeks before Christmas, leave in a

dark place and water every two days until the seeds produce white and stringy shoots. The vetches are then

used as a natural Christmas decoration in and around the crib and next to the statue of baby Jesus.

Christmas still holds a strong religious element for the Maltese and until a generation ago, everyone except

the infirm would attend Christmas Midnight Mass at their village church. While the religious side of this holi-

day is not as strongly observed any more, attendance in churches still tends to increase during this period. A

beautiful tradition which is believed to have started in 1883 in the little village of Luqa, is 'The Sermon of

Child', where a boy called George Sapiano was the first altar boy to deliver the sermon. This is held during

the Midnight Mass where a boy or a girl, normally between 7 to 10 years old, is chosen to replace the cele-

brating priest in delivering the sermon of mass. This performance is awaited with great anticipation from all

persons present that night. The preparation for this sermon would have been going on for a few months be-

fore Christmas where all the family members help the child practice the sermon. It is a memorable event for

every child who is chosen and it was considered a big honour to be

given this role. After the Midnight Mass it is also a tradition in many

village churches for the local parish priest to offer coffee and date

cakes (imqaret) to the members of the community.

By 6th Form students Lorna & Nicole

Nicole Farrugia

Christmas Then and Now

Lorna Ciantar

Today there is a tradition for children to leave some cookies and a glass of milk for Father Christ-

mas before they go to sleep. When they wake up early in the morning, most children will find all

sorts of presents under their Christmas tree, which is a great contrast to old times. In our

grandparents’ time, on Christmas morning children could expect to find just a small present

or maybe an orange and a few hazelnuts at the foot of their beds. They also be-

lieved that it was Baby Jesus himself who brought them the gifts. They used to

hurry out to meet with other children in or-

der to play and show their presents to each

other.

Especially in Gozo, the tradition that all family members assemble in one house for

Christmas lunch has remained very strong with extended families basically spending the

whole day together celebrating Christmas. Our parents remember an abundant meal of

stuffed and roasted rooster that would have been specifically fattened for Christmas,

potatoes and vegetables in season . Before ovens became a common feature in

homes, the dish would be taken to the local bakery to be baked and collected in time

for lunch. Today, it’s more likely to be food choices that became popular during the British

years such as Turkey, duck or ham

with all kinds of exotic vegetables.

Traditional sweets included treacle

rings and a delicious cocoa and chestnut hot

drink while , today, you are much more likely

to be offered sherry trifle or chocolate mousse

along with Christmas cake and mince pies –

again mostly British customs.

Many think that the 21st Century Christmas is

nothing like it was 50 years ago and that Christmas has lost its true meaning. It is true that nowadays people

spend endless amount of hours shopping for gifts and that it has become a very commercialized festivity.

However, many still believe that Christmas time is a time to think of others less fortunate, to be more gener-

ous than usual and to pass on the holiday spirit to friends and family. Christmas was, and remains, a special

time when families make a special effort to be together and exchange gifts as tokens of love and appreciation.

That means that while traditions have changed, the basic meaning of Christmas has withstood the test of

time.

9

Today there is a tradition for children to leave some cookies and a glass of milk for Father Christ-

mas before they go to sleep. When they wake up early in the morning, most children will find all

sorts of presents under their Christmas tree, which is a great contrast to old times. In our

grandparents’ time, on Christmas morning children could expect to find just a small present

or maybe an orange and a few hazelnuts at the foot of their beds. They also be-

lieved that it was Baby Jesus himself who brought them the gifts. They used to

hurry out to meet with other children in or-

der to play and show their presents to each

other.

Especially in Gozo, the tradition that all family members assemble in one house for

Christmas lunch has remained very strong with extended families basically spending the

whole day together celebrating Christmas. Our parents remember an abundant meal of

stuffed and roasted rooster that would have been specifically fattened for Christmas,

potatoes and vegetables in season . Before ovens became a common feature in

homes, the dish would be taken to the local bakery to be baked and collected in time

for lunch. Today, it’s more likely to be food choices that became popular during the British

years such as Turkey, duck or ham

with all kinds of exotic vegetables.

Traditional sweets included treacle

rings and a delicious cocoa and chestnut hot

drink while , today, you are much more likely

to be offered sherry trifle or chocolate mousse

along with Christmas cake and mince pies –

again mostly British customs.

Many think that the 21st Century Christmas is

nothing like it was 50 years ago and that Christmas has lost its true meaning. It is true that nowadays people

spend endless amount of hours shopping for gifts and that it has become a very commercialized festivity.

However, many still believe that Christmas time is a time to think of others less fortunate, to be more gener-

ous than usual and to pass on the holiday spirit to friends and family. Christmas was, and remains, a special

time when families make a special effort to be together and exchange gifts as tokens of love and appreciation.

That means that while traditions have changed, the basic meaning of Christmas has withstood the test of

time.

Thank you so much for all the organizing that made our day so enjoyable.

Fort St Angelo talk and exploration made the history come alive.

Just a few words of

appreciation for

organising such an

excellent tour Thank you so much for organising the Outing yesterday. It was perfect

Not only was the tour a

good idea, it was well

planned and well man-

aged. You do spoil us!

Thank you.

Malta tour to the 1565 exhibition and Fort St Angelo

Many thanks to one of our members, Mr Joe

Zammit for the beautiful photos. Thank you.

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11

SAVE OUR O

LD TREES AT IT-T

OKK

The work of r

efurbish

ment i

n the very h

eart of V

ictoria

is p

rogress-

ing sp

eedily. A

fter Sabin

a Square it w

ill be so

on the tu

rn of Inde-

pendence Square (it-

Tokk).

I ask

ed and a

sked a

bout the fa

te of t

he old tr

ees that a

dorn this

square but n

o one seem

s to know a

bout their fu

ture

or there is

a

certain

myste

ry that s

urrounds t

hem! I

n the m

eantime a

n artis

t

impressi

on was p

laced in

the sa

id sq

uare that s

hows that t

hese tr

ees

are goin

g to be repla

ced by smalle

r ones in pots.

These pots

will

become u

ndoubtedly bins a

nd ash

trays.

These trees h

ave been part of t

he Tokk landscape fo

r decades a

s can

be seen in

the a

ttached pictu

re circa 1920. It w

ill be a

pity if

these

trees were to

be put down a

fter so

many years o

f service, a

nd when

they a

re still

health

y and fu

ll of l

ife. T

hey use

d to g

ive shade to

us

and provide a

hom

e to th

e birds! They a

re part a

nd parcel of o

ur

urban environment.

If the bird d

roppings a

re a

nuisa

nce, then a

ll

that n

eeds to be d

one is to

keep them

regularly tr

imm

ed in su

ch a

way that w

ill li

mit

the n

umber of b

irds that c

an seek refu

ge there.

Daily cleanin

g of the sq

uare should

look a

fter a

ny remain

ing d

irt.

So, I beg a

ll th

ose concerned, M

EPA, Min

ister fo

r Gozo, M

r. Mayor

and Council,

Wirt G

ħawdex, Herita

ge Malta

and th

ose G

roups in

favour of o

ur environment,

to sp

are these old

trees w

hich are

now part of u

s, and h

ave become a

landm

ark.

I notic

ed many pla

ces in M

alta a

nd Gozo, i

ncludin

g Piazza

Regina in

Valletta

, that w

ere paved with

out touchin

g the

trees. These tr

ees are beautif

ully tr

imm

ed every now a

nd

then.

Rev George Mercieca Victo

ria.

46, Library Street V

ictoria

Gozo VCT 1173,

Restoration Projects for 2016

We are currently in discussion with the Ministry for Gozo in order to plan out the projects that need to be tackled in the coming year. While the continuing work on the hospital façade will remain our main project, there is a long waiting list of sites and monuments needing restoration. We hope that we can simultane-ously take on some of them as we keep working on the hospital façade. The goal is to finish all the Phases of the Old Hospital project by the end of 2016.

This was the last correspondence

from the late Rev. Fr. Mercieca in

his fight to save the trees at It-Tokk.

We kept up the fight on his behalf

after he passed away. He must be

smiling now that the final decision

has been made—

the trees are staying.

2015 Restoration Projects

In 2015 we completed Phase I of the Old Victoria Hospi-tal façade and started on Phase II , which is projected to be completed by the end of February 2016. We also started a restoration programme of the many monuments in public places and their surroundings. These included :

Mgarr Road Road sculpture ‘Freedom’ Xewkija Roundabout sculpture ‘Embracing dancers’ Imgarr Road/ Lambert Street ‘Ambjent Naturali’ George Pisani Monument (Victoria) Ninu Cremona Monument (Victoria) Three Hills Fountain (Victoria)

Restoration Projects update

2015 completed projects

Phase 1

Rodianne Grech was the win-ner of our Q3 competition. She came to our office where Valerie, one of our volunteers, presented the Christmas ham-per to her. Rodianne thanked us for the hamper and said she will keep following our work on our website as she already does.

Member of : - Voluntary Organazations VO/0227

- Gozo NGOs Association

Address:

Dar il-Gvernatur,

Triq l-Imġarr,

Rabat VCT 9010

Għawdex,

Malta

Website: www.wirtghawdex.org

E-mail: info@wirtghawdex.org

Office: 21562666 Mobile: 79771981 Editor: Ms. Sandra Jackson

gwl@wirtghawdex.org

Mission Statement

“To Foster the

Knowledge of and

Safeguard the Natu-

ral,

Archaeological,

Historical

and

Anthropological

Heritage

of the Islands of

Gozo and Comino.”

GWL 3/15 winner:

Wirt Għawdex (founded 1981)

12

2016

Our first lecture of the year is scheduled for Friday January 22 and will be held ,as usual , at our Santa Cecilia Chapel. We will have Dr. Michael Refalo deliver a talk with the very intriguing title of “Waking the Dead. 19th Century Obituaries as a mirror of Maltese Social Class”. I’m sure it will be as interesting as the title suggests. We will send out the usual notification with the opportunity to book seats closer to the date. In the meantime, mark your calendars.

We are also working on some other activities and events and will advise you all as soon as they are finalized. We hope to have other lec-

tures and, hopefully, another cultural tour since this proved to be so popular .

Our Annual General Meeting

is scheduled for Friday February 5, 2016 . Venue: Santa Cecilia Chapel

More information will be sent out to you closer to the date.

Upcoming Event:

Best Wishes from all the Committee