The Chapel of St Nicholas also referred to as the Chapel of San Niklaw is a 17th-century chapel located in the outskirts of

Żejtun Żejtun ( ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at the end of 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Ferdinand von ...

, in an area referred to as ''Ħal-Ġinwi'' in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

History

The cult of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

was probably introduced in Malta by devotees from

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The area were the chapel arises was originally known as ''Il-Kasar'', although by 1500 it was already known as ''San Niklaw''. Some records mention that the chapel was built in 1504. Reference to this chapel is made by inquisitor

Pietro Dusina Pietro Dusina was an Italian Roman Catholic priest from Brescia who was the inquisitor and apostolic delegate to Malta between 1574 and 1575. Dusina was nominated inquisitor of Malta by Pope Gregory XIII on 3 July 1574, and he arrived on the isl ...

during his apostolic visit to Malta in 1575. The 1575 report mentions that the feast of St Nicholas was celebrated with vespers and mass and that the chapel fell under the jurisdiction of the parish of

. The chapel served the people living in small hamlets, now disappeared, which existed in the chapel's vicinity. The present chapel was built in 1640, reflecting 17th century architecture. Nowadays the chapel is part of the privately owned San Niklaw Estate which cares for the chapel and celebrates the annual feast of St Nicholas on December 6."San Niklaw Chapel"
, ''San Niklaw Estate'', 2012. Retrieved on 18 September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapel of St Nicholas, Żejtun 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta Roman Catholic chapels in Malta Żejtun National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Limestone churches in Malta