Carmelite Church

Carmelite Church (R)   

From seaward, the skyline of Valletta is dominated by a large domed church tower. It is so large and impressive that we felt that we really had to take a look. This was the same church that we had tried to visit the previous day (Sunday 21 May) but which we had found was closing for the morning. Armed with the proper opening times [Ed: those from the sign outside the church rather those from the church’s website] we took the ferry across to Valletta in the morning both to visit the church and to do some shopping. Nicky needed some new running shoes because her current ones had recently been causing her significant pain in her feet and ankles. Valletta is not the logical place to look for a sports shop but the Tourist Office pointed us in the right direction and she is now the owner of a new pair of trainers, hopefully very comfortable ones, in a fetching shade of bright orange [Ed:!!]. There will be no missing her on the morning jog now!

Next stop was the Carmelite Church. Around 1570, the Carmelite Friars finished their original church and monastery on the site of the present building. In doing so they were one of the first religious orders to build in the new city of Valletta. During World War II the church was badly damaged by bombing which prompted the building of the new church, the one which is standing today.

The church’s formal name is the ‘Sanctuary Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel’, which is something of a mouthful, hence it is usually called the Carmelite Church. Construction started in 1958 and finished in 1980, with inauguration taking place the following year. The sculptures inside were carved between 1986 and 2005.

From the outside of the church it is not very clear that the dome is oval. However, once you are inside it’s difficult to miss as it is so huge!

Lower down, the red marble pillars and ornate carvings create a grand atmosphere; it’s difficult to associate this baroque style with something so recently constructed.

At the back of the church are a number of very ornate statues which, presumably, will be paraded through the city on the appropriate feast day.

Shopping and large domed church ticked off our list, we decided to return to BV.

Making our way back to the ferry, we looked out over Dockyard Creek from the Upper Baraka Garden and it was immediately obvious that a very large sailing yacht had arrived. Despite our high vantage point, we were still looking up at the masts!

Back down at sea level our ferry trip was also a little more interesting than normal because it coincided with the arrival into Grand Harbour of a very large oil tanker. Sitting on, rather than in, the water, she was floating as high as possible ready for the tugs to manoeuvre her into the largest of the dry docks.

Back aboard BV it was chores time. We had plans to leave Grand Harbour and explore some of the anchorages in the archipelago so Nicky decided that we needed to do a final load of washing. She trotted off with a large bag of laundry and reappeared later to transform BV into a clothesline. Timing is everything with wash-day on board. In this case we wanted enough wind to dry the clothes quickly but not so much that clouds of dust would be picked up from the La Maccina building site and negate the whole laundry process! We were lucky, and wash-day did not need to be repeated. And so, with just water to take on board the next morning (giving the decks a good wash down in the process), we were ready to head off to explore some of the bays around Comino and Gozo.

Vallettea, Malta