Our Lady of Miracles Chapel - Lija

Our Lady of Miracles Chapel - Lija

The chapel was built in 1664-66 to replace an older and smaller pre 1570 chapel in the little village of 'Hal-Bordi' on the outskirts of Lija. It is square with simple Doric architecture, a rounded ceiling and a hexagonal structure supporting the dome. Mattia Preti painted the titular and it is noted to be one of his finest works. On the 20th February in 1743, the painting of Our Lady & Baby Jesus was seen shedding tears and the very next day, Malta was struck by a major earthquake yet no buildings fell and no one was killed. Word of the miracle spread quickly. In 1747 Bishop De Bussan wrote about the popularity of the church.

Minimal but visible areas of missing stone fabric are concentrated in the lower part of the facade. A mapping exercise has been carried out which identified the different forms of deterioration and extraneous interventions. Despite the apparently generally sound state of the façades in question, there are a number of factors which are responsible for certain decay mechanisms observed as well as other detrimental and visually undesirable interventions.

The repair and maintenance works to be carried out have the primary aim of rendering back to this historic monument its aesthetic and visual integrity, which has been particularly impaired both by the wrong choice of materials in past interventions and the recent lack of maintenance. The intervention will include cleaning works, replacement of stone, plastic repair and pointing as necessary. Visible pipe-work, cables and rusting metal inserts have to be removed before commencement of restoration works. ​