MALTA: The Addolorata Cemetery

To be specific, the Santa Maria Addolorata Chapel and Cemetery, built between 1862 and 1869 on Tal-Horr hill, a burial site from prehistoric times...

which we had seen on the way from the airport to our hotel our first day 

and immediately said to each other, "I want to go there!"

Astrid and I have always believed we can learn a lot about a people and culture

from visiting their cemeteries.

So, we went 6 days later, taking the bus from Bugibba to Valletta, the capital, and then to Paola.

The bus stopped outside the cemetery entrance.

Immediately, upon entering the gates, we faced the central cross,
with the spire of the chapel behind it.

Arches surrounded the inside courtyard, leading to the cemetery.

From that point on, we realized we really were on a hill, 

with level after level of stairs climbing ever onward and upward.

The goal eventually was to get to the chapel at the top of the hill.

Even though it wasn't open while we were there, it was totally worth seeing on the outside.

And then, all along the way...where do I even start!  We were short of eyes.

There were the very big and obvious mausoleums of the rich and famous, I assume.

We even saw the one for the Dingli family (bottom-right), 

important to us since we had visited the Dingli Cliffs two days previously.

We paid attention!

There were crosses of every which kind...Celtic, included...

but especially the Maltese Cross (top and center right).

Remember that the Maltese Islands were once ruled by the British for 150 years,

and that this is a Roman Catholic country.

At the very top, we could see far off into the distance, of course,

with gravestones extending out far beyond our sight.

It really did feel like we were on top of the world with those who had gone before us.

But what impressed me the most was how the tombstones were "mobile" and clumped together.

It appears that whole, extended families "occupied" the same spot...with room for more to be added.

Family.  Families.

And look how their photos are important to them!

Often the birth date was NOT given...just the date and the age at death.

You had to do the math in your head.

Do you find this as touching as we did?

And yes, English is spoken/written as well as Maltese.  The British influence.

One particular grave site fascinated us both.

Wouldn't you love to know this story!

And this story...and that one.

There are 250 Commonwealth burials from WWI and 18 from WWII.

(sigh)
Requiescat in pace.

Impressions.  Always the impressions.

We saw a lot but also missed a lot, as you can tell from this YouTube.

 But as we left, we had seen enough and were thankful for what we had learned...
perhaps more from the living than from the dead?