Churches & Chapels
The Parish Church
At the end of the 16th century, Mqabba became a parish. Although the parishioners appealed for the Church of St Mary to be their parish church, the bishop decided on the Church of St Basil as a temporary parish church.
The church of St Mary was to be repaired and had to acquire the necessary items to be a proper parochial church. Dun Pietro Pace was appointed the new parish priest of Mqabba in 1604, under whose administration, started the building of a new parish church dedicated to the Assumption of St Mary.
This new church was built instead of two other smaller churches; that of the Assumption and the Visitation respectively. Construction started in 1699 and was completed on 20 May 1774. To manage the costs, many parishioners helped with the construction and most of them worked for free on Sundays and feasts. As compensation for their work, the parishioners were given either a pint of wine, meat, bread, pasta, cheese, or olives. A new confraternity of the Sacrament was set up and the confraternity of the Rosary was transferred from San Basil to the new church. One parishioner also left a will binding his relatives and heirs to keep paying for a high mass and vespers on the feast day, as was the custom while he was alive.
This church is built in the shape of a Latin cross. It has two sacristies and a choir area at the back, behind the main altar. In all it had six altars, including the main altar.
Because of its proximity to the airport, Mqabba and its parish church were damaged during the Second World War. Damage to the church was paid with the War Damage funds. Most of the church was re-built almost as it was architecturally before the war, except for the church’s dome as it was given a more modern decorative interior with contemporary architectural methods.
St Basil's Church
The Church of St Basil is one of 30 medieval churches found in the Maltese islands and the only one dedicated to St Basil. It is recorded that the Church of St Basil was extended three times; the first being in 1486 and the final time in 1515.
During the Medieval period, Mqabba’s church was part of a larger cluster of churches and in different localities, including Ħal Safi, Ħal Kirkop and Ħal Luqa, under a different parish. Dun Bartilmew Mangion, the parish priest of Bir Miftuħ, was the only priest who administered numerous churches. Mqabba felt abandoned, because this one parish priest oversaw about 55 chapels and churches.
In 1575, the bishop started his episcopal visits in the different localities with his first visit being to Mqabba’s church of St Basil on 8 February. Mqabba’s hopes of becoming a parish were to no avail since the area was only made up of a total of 30 houses and 150 people.
However, on 16th September 1595, seven parishioners from Mqabba presented a petition to Bishop Gargallo, showing their frustration of being too far from their parish church to be administered the sacrament in emergencies. This time, the parishioners got their wish acceded to. Mqabba became a parish and St Basil was chosen by the Bishop as the Parish Church.
Pastoral services started in 1598, with the first baptism, of baby Gann-Duminku Bonavia, in January 1599 and the first wedding ceremony taking place in February 1599.
The church was in a dire state, with very simple and minimal decorations, a wooden door, and a small icon above the altar. But as of 1598, the parishioners started putting together their efforts to adorn their church with the material and decorations required. In the next Bishop’s visit to the church in 1600, it is documented that there was a baptismal font next to the front door, and a beautiful wooden tabernacle which locks with the sacrament exposed on the main alter. Above the main altar there was a painting on wood, in a Greek Style, depicting St Mary in the middle together with St Joseph and St Basil, the patron of this Church, dated 1677.
There were two other altars; the one on the left of the main altar was dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and the one on the right was dedicated the Visitation of the Holy Virgin Mary.
The church is rectangular in shape, with pointed arches, showing the Siculo-Norman influence. The same style can be observed on the outside with a pointed arch above the main entrance and a beautiful Rose Window. The original door was replaced in the 1970s.
Once the new Church of St Mary of the Assumption was built as a parish church, the church of St Basil no longer remained the parish church. However, it became to be considered a close second in importance.
The parvis in front of the church is today covered with limestone slabs. This area was originally used as a cemetery, especially at the time of the plague of the 1670s. This is also seen in the monument beside the church representing the souls burning in fire, representing the plague, and the skull of death. Since 1799, this area was no longer used as a cemetery.
Even before becoming a parish, the people living nearby made sure to have a mass at least on Sundays and feast days. The feast of St Basil used to be organised on 14 January. Today it is celebrated on 2 January.
Our Lady of Sorrows Church
The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows was built in 1500 and was originally dedicated to the Assumption of St Mary. For a long time, this church was known as the Church of St Mary tal-Faqqanija to distinguish it from the other church dedicated to St Mary.
This is a very small church surrounded by palm and olive trees.
The area just outside the church door was used as a cemetery for those who died due of the plague between 1592 and 1593. This cemetery is no longer visible as the land was later paved with tiles and several trees were planted.
In the visit of 7 December 1600, the Bishop ordered the repairing of the rubble wall that surrounded the cemetery, but this was implemented as noted in the Bishop’s visit some 15 years later. However, this time, those in charge of the church were given 6 months to repair the rubble wall or else the church would have been closed for good.
In the Bishop’s visit of 1679, it was noted that the church had become too small for the needs of the community, thus, the bishop nominated two priests to be responsible for the rebuilding of the church. A bigger and befitting church was built in 1680 which was now dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
Unfortunately, sometime after 1680, the church was abandoned and in 1814, the bishop appointed individuals to care for the church. During this time the parvis was given an overhaul and was now surrounded by a wall with balustrades, a design for the basement of the church was drafted and the church was adorned by a new small bronze bell. The church was refurbished on the inside, having artist Antonio Grech to decorate the wall behind the altar. In 1851, the church’s basement was turned into a crypt.
In September, the people of this area used to organise a religious feast dedicated to St Mary, their patron, with a special sung mass and a more decorated church. The festivities used to extend to the outdoors with fireworks and lights. It is documented that up until 1930, this feast was well sought after and was conspicuously celebrated.
Today, this Church is open for Adoration during weekdays. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on 15 September with a mass in the square in front of the church.
St Catherine's Chapel
Circa 1550 AD, in the place where we today find the Church of St Catherine, two smaller churches existed, one dedicated to St Catherine and another dedicated to St Peter. However, when the bishop visited Mqabba in the eighteenth century, he noted that both churches needed substantial maintenance and repairing works and hence, he ordered the removal of and re-building of a larger church to be dedicated to St Catherine instead of the former two churches. The first stone was laid and blessed in 1764.
Because it was built in the eighteenth century, this church is different from Mqabba’s other churches. It is built in a circular shape from the inside, and is adorned with a simple yet baroque-style steeple. The church is just a few meters across from the parish church and despite being a relatively small church, the painting on the main alter gives the church a unique character. This painting represents the mystical marriage of St Catherine, St Anne, and St John the Evangelist. On the left corner one can see the coat of arms of the Aquilina family, who commissioned this painting.
It is worth mentioning that celebrations for the sacrament of the Holy Communion for the children of Mqabba took place for the first time on Sunday 23rd June 1901 in this very church.