St. John the Evangelist Chapel

According to Achille Ferres, this chapel was built early in the eighteenth century in fulfilment of a vow made by a rich person from Gharghur who barely escaped capture and enslavement by Barbary corsairs. It seems that an ex-slave of his had given the tip to the marauders. Ferres does not give the name of this person, but in the acts of Notary Giuseppe Debono, a certain cleric, Giovanni Portelli, had left a bequest for the celebration of Masses on the feast of St. John the Evangelist and for the distribution of some hazelnuts to those who attended, and for another Mass on the feast of St. Lawrence. Up to some forty years ago, the sung Mass used to be celebrated by the Gharghur clergy.

The small chapel is octagonal. The titular painting shows St.John and the Immaculate Conception, and bears the date 1757. Carved above it is an eagle (symbol of St. John the Evangelist) and the madonna monogram. At the sides are paintings of St. Paul and St. Lawrence, and the Portelli coat of arms.

A new Via Crucis has replaced an old engraved one which has been taken to the library of the Franciscan Friars Minor, of Valletta, for safe keeping. On the back of one of the prints is an inscription to the effect that the Via Crucis, a gift of Giuseppe Pullicino, son of Dr. Arcangelo, was blessed by the superior of the Franciscans of Rabat on the 16th September, 1872.

Close to the chapel is a house where the students of the Franciscan convent of Rabat used to spend the summer vacations, and presumably hear Mass at St. John's. The Franciscans took over the chapel in 1947. In 1959 they started building the Portiuncola House, which soon became an important centre for retreats.