The Chapel of St John the Evangelist is a small

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located in the now uninhibited area known as Ħal Millieri which today forms part of the village of

Żurrieq Żurrieq ( ) is a town in the Western Region of Malta. It is one of the oldest towns in the country, and has a population of 11,823 inhabitants as of March 2014. Żurrieq is one of the 10 parishes to be documented in 1436 and is dedicated to S ...

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 ...

Ħal Millieri

The village of Ħal Millieri is believed to have been a very old habitat dating back to Roman times. The area is situated between the villages of

Qrendi Qrendi () is a village in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta, with a population of 3,148 people as of October 2021. It is located close to Mqabba, Żurrieq and Siġġiewi. Within its boundaries are the two Neolithic temples of ...

Kirkop Kirkop () is a village in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta. Located near the Malta International Airport, it has been inhabited since pre-history. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Leonard. The football team of the village ...

and

Mqabba Mqabba () is a town in the Western Region of Malta. It has a traditional Maltese village layout, with a population of about 3,339 inhabitants, as of January 2019. The focal point is the Parish Church of the Assumption, found at the core of the v ...

. A total of four churches were located within the village of which only two survive, St John's and the Annunciation chapel. Records show that the chapel of St John was located in the village centre, with the square in front of the chapel serving as the main village square where trade could take place. The population of the village decreased rapidly during the end of the 17th century. Eventually the village was abandoned and the only traces of the once busy village of Ħal Millieri are the two chapels mentioned before.

The chapel

The original medieval chapel dedicated to the Evangelist St John was built sometime around 1481. It is recorded in 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 ...

's report of his apostolic visit to the chapel in 1575. The report states that the chapel was in a dilapidated state, there were no doors, there were stone benches and a floor of beaten earth. Consequently, the church was deconsecrated however some time later it was reconsecrated and equipped with necessarily religious items.Spiteri, Mikiel (2000). ''A Hundred Wayside Chapels of Malta & Gozo'', p. 68-69. Heritage Books, Valletta. . The present chapel dates from 1640. In 1822 Reverend Ġakbu Gauci had plans to restore the chapel and turned to his nephew Franġisku Gauci to carry out the work. In the 20th century the chapel was enlarged and works commenced in 1961.

Interior

The chapel has one stone altar with a titular painting depicting St John the Evangelist writing the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. The original painting was transferred to the parish church of Żurrieq out of safety concerns however a copy of the original painting was commissioned and put in its place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Chapel, Ħal Millieri 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta Roman Catholic chapels in Żurrieq National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Limestone churches in Malta