The Chapel of St Lucy is a

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 ...

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

chapel located in the outskirts of the village of

Għaxaq Għaxaq (, ) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 5,538 as of November 2021. The surrounding areas are predominantly used for agriculture. The village's name likely originates from the surname of a local noble fam ...

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 ...

. In Maltese, the chapel is known as Santa Luċija tal-Barrani.

History

The chapel was built in 1535 on land owned by the Cathedral chapter through the initiatives of Paolo Pellegrino. In return an honorary canon of the cathedral was obliged to bear the expenses for the celebration of the feast of the saint and to provide alms for the poor on the feast day, a custom that persisted until

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The expenses for the construction of the church were seen to by the cathedral chapter with the chapel being administered by the cathedral

Precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

. After

the chapel was neglected and disused. It was only recently that the chapel was restored and used for worship.

Interior

The chapel has one altar and a painting depicting

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse ( – 304 AD), also called Saint Lucia () and better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic Church, Catholic, Angl ...

and the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The chapel's interior consists of 3 pointed arches that support the walls and roof, typical of medieval architecture in Malta. Rizzo Naudi, Mari
"Il-kappella ta’ Santa Luċija ~ Tal-Barrani, l/o Ħal Għaxaq ~"
''Kappelli Maltin''. Retrieved on 21 October 2017.

References

{{reflist Roman Catholic chapels in Malta Churches completed in 1535 Għaxaq National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands