The chapel of St. Agatha in the ancient capital city of Mdina is of great historical interest dating back to 1410. Born to a rich and noble family in the 3rd century AD, fifteen-year-old Agatha made a vow of virginity and rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman prefect Quintianus, who thought he could force her to renounce her vow and marry. His persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian during the persecution of Decius, had her arrested and brought before the judge. He was the Judge.
Even though faced with torture and possible death, Agatha simply reaffirmed her belief in God and was subjected her to a month of rape and assaults to get her to abandon her vow to God and go against her virtue.
To escape Quintianus and the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius, Agatha, along with some friends took refuge in Malta, in the catacombs of Rabat. When Agatha returned to Sicily the governor had her tortured. She was stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, whipped and finally her breasts were cut off with pincers. The martyrdom of Saint Agatha is historically authenticated. Agatha died in prison, probably in the year 251 AD.
Originally built by the nobleman Francesco Gatt and his wife Donna Paola Castelli. Prior to 1661 the chapel was owned by the Gatto Murina family. In 1661 the medieval chapel was given to the church in Malta however it was damaged during the great earthquake of 1693 and was remodelled and rebuilt in 1694 to a design of Lorenzo Gafa’, the architect responsible for the Mdina Cathedral with its splendid baroque dome.
It was opened by Bishop Cocco-Palmieri in the presence of Grand Master Adrien de Wignacourt on the 26th June 1696. Commemorative medals were buried in the masonry to mark the event.
In 1551, Muslim forces commanded by Sinan Pasha landed in St. Paul’s Bay and in what could have been a dress rehearsal for the Great Siege of 1565, camped in Mtarfa and laid siege to Mdina, then known as Notabile. When the supplies of the defenders were running low, the Vicar General, Don Giuseppe Manduca, was called to the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Scolastica then situated in Bastion Square (now housed in Vittoriosa) where a nun told him that St. Agatha had appeared and had advised that Mass should be celebrated and that all soldier and civilians should walk in procession carrying her image which should be displayed on the bastions facing the enemy.
The Vicar General acted on this advice and the Bailiff Adomo, Governor of the city, together with the Knights of the Order of St. John and the Nobles and people of the city took part in a service celebrated by the Bishop’s Vicar. The Muslim forces said to have been impressed by the numerous defenders lifted the siege and instead attacked the island of Gozo. To commemorate this event (recorded in documents in the Cathedral Museum, as well as by the historian Giacomo Bosio), a procession used to take place every year on the 5th February led by the Cathedral Chapter; also in thanksgiving, Don Giuseppe Manduca commissioned a painting of St. Agatha, a copy of which is now in this Chapel; the original by Giuseppe d’Arena (in the Cathedral Museum) was the altarpiece until 1694.
The Chapel was used to house two refugee families during the Second World War.
After the war, the Chapel of St. Agatha, an important part of the island’s heritage, fell into disrepair. It was then that an appeal was launched and fund-raising commenced by the Mdina Cultural Association together with the Archbishop’s Seminary (owners of the Chapel) which successfully restored the chapel.
References
Spiteri, Mikiel (2000). A Hundred Wayside Chapels of Malta & Gozo. Heritage Books.
Ciantar, Noel “Il-Kappella ta’ Sant’Agata – Imdina”, Kappelli Maltin.
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