There was a reason for the abandonment in 1813 The Chapel's garden was used to bury plague victims. People were terrified of visiting the chapel for fear of contagion and after several years even regular services ceased.

Dedicated to the Annunciation, the Chapel of Hal Milleri was originally known as Sta Maria, a unique dedication indicating the time it was built and hailing back to medieval Malta, when the Holy Mother and Her maternity were held in highest regard.

Lenghty research has shown that the chapel had formed part of a medieval settlement as indicated also by the number of water cisterns which would have been situated beneath the village huts in the surrounding fields. Records show that the community peaked around 1680, when 97 residents were registered. The last baby born in 1711 was called Maria Fenech. The last family lived there alone between 1711 and 1750 when their traces disappear. It is probable that they all moved into the neighbouring market town of Zurrieq.

Much came to light during the process of cleaning, documenting and restoring the site. Several layers of lime paint was removed to reveal a unique set of frescoes covering the walls of the chapel which, though heavily Byzantinesque, betray traces of Romanesque influence. These were fully restored by Professor Paola Zanolini and her assistant Sonya Bozzini Cervi of Milan.

The Frecoes, which with their French Gothic lettering, allowed the present chapel building to be dated back to around 1450. However it is thought that the frescoes images might be reproductions of even older images that embellished an earlier chapel which once stood on the same site.

In fact, in 1977 a third stage of work involving archaeological excavations carried out by the University of Malta's Department of Archaeology and the National Museum in collaboration with the University of Oxford through the expert intervention of the late Dr Blagg.

Beneath the 15th century chapel was unearthed the foundations of another one, which was probably bhilt in the 1200s during the re-Christianisation of Malta and which had also been decorated with frecoes. Beneath this the archaeologist discovered a Roman complex extending beyond the chapel. This included a number of animal husbandry implements and oil production machinery. An ancient olive crusher today placed outside the chapel dates back to the presence of this complex in classical antiquity. Further below, archaeologists came across a layer of bronze age pottery dating back to 2,300 B.C.

Hal Milleri is open to the public on the first Sunday of each month,09.00-12.00. Once a year an open day is held on the Sunday nearest to the feast of the Annunciation on March 25th. For further information contact DLH on 2122 5952 or email info@dinlarthelwa.org.