Ta’ Loretu Chapel

Region	South Eastern
Building type	Place of Worship
Address	Loretu Chapel, Gudja, Malta
Located Graffiti	Dates, Ship Graffiti

This chapel in Gudja is dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto. It was built in 1676 following an outbreak of the Black Death. It is believed that the chapel was built to express the locals’ gratitude to the Divine because the town of Gudja was not hit hard by the outbreak. During World War II (1939 – 1945), the chapel was used by the military. It was connected to a nearby shelter through the chapel’s well. Nowadays, the chapel is no longer in use.

Gallery

A graffito of a ship’s stern, marked with a flag bearing the Order’s Standard.

This graffito bears a lot of similarity with Image 2. Although it is slightly smaller in size, this graffito also features detailed rigging and a prominent bow. The hull, evidenced by a series of dots, has faded away out of view.

This realistic depiction of a sailing ship is barely visible. The hull is decorated with a series of parallel lines and there are also three sets of sails. The graffito was made using rather fine, shallow etchings and it has faded over time. A substantial amount of detail remains evident.

A large graffito of a ship with a shallow freeboard. The detail of the ship’s rigging has faded beyond recognition.

A possible graffito of a ship’s hull. A deeply engraved line bisects it with an ‘X’ marking where the line meets the hull.

Ta’ Loretu Chapel

Gallery

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