Attard Parish Church

Region	Western
Building type	Place of Worship
Address	Attard Parish Church, Triq Il-Kbira, Attard, Malta
Located Graffiti	Ship Graffiti, Symbols

The Parish Church in Attard is dedicated to the Assumption of St. Mary. The church was built in the early 17th century. Two courses of the church’s northeast-facing wall have an array of ship graffiti that likely date to the Knight’s period. The ship graffiti type vastly out-numbers other types of graffiti present on this church’s outer walls.

Gallery

Ship Graffiti - The hull of a ship. A line is dividing the hull in two, likely representing the top and bottom deck.

Ship Graffiti - The hull of a ship can be seen on the lower right of the stone block. Several etched lines in series, protruding out of the hull, likely depict the oars on a galley. Some evidence of additional graffiti can be seen on the rest of the stone block. However, these have been affected by the application and removal of plaster and no image can be made out.

Ship Graffiti - Three different hulls can be identified on this stone block. The one on the lower portion of the stone block is more elaborate than the hull etched on the top-most portion of the stone block.

Ship Graffiti - One of the most elaborate ships etched on the outer wall of this church. This ship is depicted with its rigging, including sails. A bowsprit and several flags are present.

Ship Graffiti - This ship graffito is etched very similarly to the previous one in type and style. This ship too has been depicted with rigging, has a bowsprit and triangular sails. Unfortunately this graffito’s lines are feint and will soon be lost over time.

Ship Graffiti - This ship graffito shows a three-masted ship with flags and standing rigging. The hull has multiple parallel lines running lengthwise. These lines might be representing the planking on the ship’s hull.

Ship Graffiti - Most of this graffito is nearly lost. However, apart from the hull, one can still make out a flag at the stern of the ship. The hull is depicted with a series of lines which represent the oars of the ship.

Ship Graffiti - A ship of similar typology as a few other ships etched into this wall. This example is a shallow etching and will not be visible in some year’s time. One can still make out the hull and bowsprit of the ship. Multiple masts have been etched together with some of the sails.

More than one hull has been etched into this stone block. These graffiti are no longer identifiable as plaster was applied and then removed in the past, affecting the ship graffiti.

Ship Graffiti - The hull of this ship is long and the freeboard is shallow. Several masts have been etched. Some of the rigging can still be seen.

Ship Graffiti - Etched in close proximity to the previous example, this ship’s hull is much shorter in length and a flag is visible at the stern.

Symbols - Some etched lines show either attempts at ship graffiti or symbols. On the right one can see a ‘ladder-like’ etching. This symbol is repeated in other locations such as on the outer wall of the Grandmaster’s Palace.

Symbols - The eight-pointed Maltese cross is a popular symbol in historical graffiti.

Attard Parish Church

Gallery

About

Why Ships?

Get Involved

Legal

Follow Us