Għajnsielem and Fort Chambray

Għajnsielem, found on the southern coast of the island of Gozo, is the first village one meets as he leaves Mġarr Harbour towards the capital city of Victoria. The name of the village means ‘Peaceful Spring’, in reference to a number of natural springs in the area which were probably the reason why people settled here in the first place.

Għajnsielem became an official Parish in 1855, with its Patron Saint being Our Lady of Loreto, and the village feast being celebrated each year on the last Sunday of August. It is also interesting to note that the island of Comino falls under the responsibility of the local council of Għajnsielem.

Though Għajnsielem is not large, it contains many popular places of interest, most notably the Prehistoric Temples of ‘Tal-Imrejżeb’, ‘Tal-Qigħan’ Prehistoric Temple, Lourdes Chapel, Mġarr ix-Xini Tower, Saint Cecilia Tower and Chapel, and Fort Chambray amongst others.

Fort Chambray is an old fortress built at the top of a hill called ‘Ras it-Tafal’, or Blue Clay Point, which is situated between Mġarr Harbour and x-Xatt l-Aħmar. It started to be constructed in the year 1722, during the reign of Grand Master Antoine Manuel de Vilhena (1722 – 1736) of the Order of Saint John. Originally, the idea for building the Fort was for it to be a starting point to build a new capital city to replace the Citadel (Ċittadella), however this plan never came to fruition, and in fact the actual completion of the fort was shelved for some time due to lack of funds. It was in 1749 that a Norman Count of the Order of Saint John named Francois Chambray offered to finance the full expense of the construction, which is why the fort was named after him. During that time, the islands were under the governance of the Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca (1741 – 1773). The Fort was built in order to safeguard the island of Gozo from pirates, and it was finally completed in 1758. It was used to house the Government’s Palace, administration buildings, and a chapel.

In 1798, Fort Chambray saw its first military use, during the French invasion of the Maltese Islands. The knight De Megrigny, who at the time commanded the Fort, offered it as a place of shelter for many Gozitans, who took refuge inside with their livestock and possessions.

Unfortunately, the Fort was later forced to surrender, after which it was manned by a French garrison. Months later, the Gozitans rebelled and re-took possession of the Fort…

This article was published on LivingInMalta – to read the rest of it, please go here.

New Freelancing job! Writing about Medieval Malta!!

After years of writing just for myself, last year I finally decided to give myself a shake, take things into my own hands, and start selling what I knew how to do best, that is, WRITE.

I went on the local market and was scooped up by a local online magazine called EVE – http://www.eve.com.mt/ where I write articles on anything under the sun, but mostly on travel, culture, lifestyle, movies and books. In around 10 months, I became one of the top three contributors and had a raise. Not that money is an issue, since I have quite a well-paying full time job which has nothing to do with writing (unfortunately), but nonetheless, it is a way of understanding whether a magazine values you or not isn’t it?

2015 started with another new freelancing opportunity. On January 2nd, I was contacted by a Polish Touristic Association which is currently forming an online website focusing on Castles and medieval buildings. The coordinator of their page read a particular article of mine on facebook – this one: http://www.eve.com.mt/2015/01/01/capturing-castles-in-kent/ and he liked it so much that he wondered whether I could contribute to their project.

Needless to say, I am overjoyed. Payment is not stellar, but the fact that I will be putting Malta ‘on the map’ so to speak, when it comes to Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque forts and castles, is something to be proud of in and of itself. This project in fact, will feature castles from all over the world, and the tiny island of Malta, which has so much to offer, will be in on it thanks to me!

Next month will be quite busy, in that apart from having to do a number of presentations, audits, and training at work, and writing my EVE articles, I will also be researching Maltese history and architecture, since I need to produce written content for my new Polish bosses by the end of the month.

It will be an interesting challenge, and I truly hope I can make it!