
Back in May I went for my last walk of the season in nearby Mosta: a short exploratory walk in Wied Speranza, which I managed to link up in a circular route. I started the walk near the chapel that explains the name of the valley – the chapel is dedicated to Il-Madonna tal-Isperanza, which translates to “Our Lady of Hope”. The dedication itself is due to a legend from the 18th century, about a local girl who narrowly escaped capture by Ottoman pirates, after she hid in a cave (the one below the current church) and prayed for deliverance. The curious will find details on the legend and the chapel at Kappelli Maltin (in Maltese).
I had photographed this chapel before, but was intrigued by the way the faithful were attending Mass while staying outside the church itself. This was some time ago now, when the vaccine rollout was not as advanced as it is now, and quite frankly I wasn’t comfortable with so many people gathered rather close to each other. At least these were in the open air – I wonder what the situation was like inside the chapel.