The Chapel of St. Paul the Hermit at Wied il-Għasel

Above the picturesque valley of Wied il-Għasel (Valley of honey) in Mosta, home of the Rotunda in Malta, is the Chapel of St. Paul the Hermit, which has several legends surrounding its early beginnings

When inquisitor Pietro Dusina visited the chapel during his apostolic visit to Malta in 1575, he mentioned that the chapel had a wooden door, which was uncommon in those days, and an altar but no rector, liturgical vestments or objects

He further wrote that an annual feast of the saint financed by a certain Paolo Cumbo was celebrated at the chapel .

This chapel is also mentioned in the first history book of Malta written in 1647 by Giovanni Francesco Abela, who described some of the paintings inside the chapel, that included that of St Paul the Hermit and also San Anton Abbati

Then in 1656, a Mosta-born by the name of Ġan Pawl Mangion placed a painting of the Virgin Mary inside the cave Miguel Juan Balaguer de Camarasa, who served as Bishop of Malta from 1635 to 1663, also permitted Mangion to rebuild the chapel and an altar around the painting inside the cave. In 1676 Don Ortensio Bennini celebrated mass and preached in the chapel on its feast day

Years later, the chapel was abandoned, but in 1920 Archbishop Mauro Caruana charged Rev Karm Gauci to care for the chapel, which was consequently restored, and a belfry built

However, the chapel was again abandoned due to a road block that prevented access to the valley Consequently, it was vandalised. As a result, Archbishop Sir Mikiel Gonzi deconsecrated the chapel Its interior was restored to its original state a few years ago

The chapel has an altar and a copy of the original painting depicting St Paul the Hermit that had been stolen in 1988 but found some time later and is now in the Parish Church of Mosta and St Anthony of Egypt It also has a painting of the Virgin Mary

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According to the Kappellimaltin com website, there are a total 0f 297 chapels in the Maltese islands – Malta and Gozo There are 268 in Malta, and 29 in Gozo

The area classified, as housing most chapels is made up of Rabat, Bidnija and Mtaħleb with 25 However, Malta’s capital, Valletta is the stand-alone locality with the most chapels It has 16

Next come Mosta, Siġġiewi and Zurrieq with 13 each, Zejtun, Naxxar/Salini and St Paul’s Bay with 11, Zebbug have 10 and Qormi 9 Birgu/Fort St Angelo houses 8, while Lija and Qrendi and Zabbar have seven each