A visit to the Inquisitor’s Palace in Birgu is recommended by Heritage Malta, but what does this experience truly offer?

The sun shines exquisitely and the Inquisitor’s Palace’s exterior walls look glamorous, serene and peaceful, yet bastion like, perhaps to shield its illustrious tenants. So far so good. Then, one notices poke marks on the wall caused by shrapnel during the war. Peacefulness is abruptly changed to eeriness.

One wonders what exactly happened on these premises? Presently, it is being advertised as a tourist attraction. The Inquisitor was the decision-maker when it came to converting those who did not follow certain practices or beliefs. Or those who maybe practiced rituals or other notions outside of what was considered ‘the Vatican’s interest in Malta’.

According to Heritage Malta, the Inquisitor’s Palace represents ‘a power-house of the Holy Roman Inquisition that dominates Malta for over 224 years’. One certainly gets a feeling of abundant events taking place inside this location.

Inside the palace – films, showing enactments of what could have happened on these premises wet your appetite to discover more about this cavernous site.  

Artefacts, furniture, costumes and statues are scattered around to depict the past. So one truly goes back in time as one walks and absorbs what is being displayed. In the kitchen, there is an authentic cooking stone, which was used in the past. Amazing how they used to use this stone to create cuisines!

One is subsequently greeted by a majestic set of stairs which leads one to the upper floors. On the ceiling, a beautiful work of art emits a sense of power just by looking at it.

The Inquisitor’s importance can be felt throughout from the litter used to carry the Inquisitor to his luxuriously decorated bedroom. 

A sense of power is felt in the upper rooms of this palace. Also present is a chilling feeling together with various questions as to the procedures that took place many moons ago. Stories are shown in books which are hundreds of years old.

The cherry on the cake is when one visits the lower part of this location. Prison cells, a reservoir for humans’ bodily excretions, a room belonging to the prison officer in charge of implementing discipline to those deemed to be converted are all present.  The tension is all around and one wonders what exactly happened between these walls.

Commitment and resilience are two ingredients which hit you in the face. Commitment from those in cracking the whip, contrasting with resilience from those being held to come clean over their crimes.

The history found here, together with the gripping rooms, make this location truly worth a visit. Thumbs up to Heritage Malta, who have given this location character and a touch of uniqueness. One enjoys an educational and delightful experience by visiting this grand location. More information on this location can be found at the Heritage Malta’s website.

This article was written by a guest writer whose views are not associated with The Third Eye. The Third Eye strives to be the student’s voice, and that entails giving them a platform to voice their opinions.

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MUHS, which stands for Malta University Historical Society, has its roots in the History and Political Science fields. The organisation strives to encourage debates concerning everyday topics, as they inevitably will affect our lives, and familiarise ourselves more with the local culture & its historical events.

The New Executive Committee

MUHS held its AGM on the 23rd November (2022) where it publicised its full list of executive members, these being:

• President: Nico Muscat
• Vice-President: Prof Emanuel Buttigieg
• Secretary General: Sarah Attard
• Assistant Secretary General: Emily Slater
• Treasurer: Chris Busuttil Leaver
• Assistant Treasurer: Aimee Borg
• PRO: Luke Gauci
• Assistant PRO: Nathaniel Calleja Gera
• Campus Liaison Officer: Thomas Aquilina
• International Officer: Ian Fenech
• Committee Members: Rakele Fiott, Simone Azzopardi and Renald Micallef
• Committee Member specifically focusing on Design & Social Media: Veronica Debono

Presidential Comment

I am honoured to once again be leading the MUHS Executive Committee for another year. As a society we must now look forward to this next year with optimism as we celebrate a very important anniversary. The AGM marked the start of the 60-year anniversary of MUHS, which makes our society one of the oldest societies on campus. While like all other societies, there have been challenging periods, MUHS is continuing to grow and evolve. The committee already have a number of events and initiatives planned for the coming months including the second annual Godfrey Wettinger Memorial Lecture and the launch of the next edition of our journal STORJA. We hope to see you at our upcoming events.

The Third Eye wishes the new executive the best of luck!

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What is the Christmas Truce of 1914?

In 2014 the British supermarket chain ‘Sainsbury’s’ launched a Christmas advert which popularized the ordeal. The advert depicts British and German soldiers singing ‘O Holy Night’ in unison with one another. They temporarily stop fighting one another to play a friendly game of football. And this is essentially what happened in the Christmas Truce of 1914. Check the advert out below:

Although the advert condenses the whole thing into 4 minutes, it provides an accurate portrayal of a series of events which occurred across the Western front. These events took place from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day of December 1914. With these truces having taken place at the beginning of the First World War, it must also be noted that these were unofficial ceasefires between both sides of the conflict. Nevertheless, these truces manifested themselves in German and British soldiers amongst others exchanging gifts, singing Christmas carols, playing football and socialising with each other as if they were lifelong friends, and not combatants participating in a world war.

How did the Christmas Truce Come About?

All of this found its roots on December 7^th 1914, when Pope Benedict XV suggested that the war be put on a temporary hiatus in order for Christmas to be celebrated in a peaceful manner. Despite this plea for an official ceasefire, together with those made by British suffragettes at the time, these calls for a truce fell on deaf ears. Regardless of the reluctance felt by the warring governments, soldiers at the frontline had a completely different outlook towards Christmas compared to that of their superiors.

Taking different forms in different places, the Christmas Truce commonly manifested itself with German soldiers rising out of the trenches, crossing the infamous ‘no man’s land’ and calling out ‘Merry Christmas’ in the native tongues of their enemies in order for the British and other Allied soldiers to understand.

Making Peace

At first, the Allied soldiers suspected this to be some sort of trick, but after seeing that the German soldiers were unarmed, they subsequently climbed out of the trenches, shook each other’s hands and engaged in the aforementioned pleasantries. Any future attempts at similar truces proving to be nowhere near as successful due to the resistance shown by senior and commanding officers.

In addition to this, the festive and joyful description which the Christmas Truce often gets was also accompanied with more somber aspects. soldiers making use of the temporary suspension of hostilities as an opportunity to retrieve and bury the bodies of their fallen comrades, together with swapping prisoners of war.

Not soldiers, just humans.

Despite the short-lived and rare nature of the Christmas Truce, it is still considered to be a heart-warming display of humanity and peace shown by soldiers amidst one of the most violent wars in world history.  For a short period these individuals were not soldiers, but brothers. Not heroes or villains. Not enemies, but friends. They were nothing but humans.

The post The Time The War Stood Still | Christmas Truce of 1914 appeared first on The Third Eye.

Ancient Rome is one of the cornerstones of ancient civilizations. The culture of this race was one of the founding pillars of modern civilization.

Therefore, the art of such a nation would be fundamental to modern-day art and culture due to the influence it would cause. Roman Culture was famous for its use of frescoes and marble statues, that decorated their magnificent architecture, but there was another, lesser-known, more public form of art spread throughout the Empire.

Graffiti as a form of expression

Graffiti today is seen today as either a liberal art or as a scourge. However, it is mostly agreed that it can be a form of expression for the general public, with some of these works being pieces of commentary on social issues. In Ancient Rome, one can say that the situation regarding graffiti was one of a similar nature to today.

Ancient Roman culture was more than what most people expect it to be. It can be said that most of the graffiti done in Rome was crude or simple. They could be anything, from offences directed towards particular people to boasting, to comments about the quality of an inn or a restaurant.

Insults

Ancient Romans may not have had Twitter but this did not keep them from calling out others:

• “Oppi, emboliari, fur, furuncle.”, which means, “Oppius, you’re a clown, a thief, and a cheap crook.”
• “Philiros spado.”, which means, “Phileros is a eunuch.” Short and sweet.

Inn Reviews

Back then, Tripadvisor obviously didn’t exist. That didn’t stop the Ancient Romans from commenting about the services they would have received from an establishment. The following are comments left in inns:

• “Talia te fallant utinam medacia, copo: tu vedes acuam et bibes ipse merum”, which means, “If only similar swindling would dupe you, innkeeper: you sell water, and drink the undiluted wine yourself.”
• “Miximus in lecto. Faetor, peccavimus, hospes. Si dices: quare? Nulla matella fuit”, which means, “We have wet the bed. I admit we were wrong, my host. If you ask ‘why?’ There was no chamber pot.”

Raunchy comments

Finally, there were also some extremely crude ones. Apart from messages and phrases, Romans created many images through their graffiti. Being plain and simple, a lot were of a crude and phallic kind. For example:

• “Suspirium puellam Celadus thraex”, meaning “Celadus makes the girls moan.” Certainly this one was full of himself.
• “Habes sum pincerna,” meaning “I screwed the barmaid.“

For more examples on the explicit side check out this list of ‘bawdy graffiti’.

If we look at these, we realise that civilization hasn’t changed that much. The graffiti of Ancient Rome is surely an insightful look into the general everyday life of these people. After all, we are only an evolution of our past selves.

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Article by Hannah Portanier.

Olof Gollcher (1889-1962) is the extraordinary man who comes to mind by the mention of Palazzo Falson. He was born in Valletta and was the son of a wealthy shipping merchant of Swedish and Maltese descent. He was concerned with Malta’s cultural heritage and he was passionate about collecting objets d’arts and historical relics. Olof lived a fulfilled life, even serving in both the First and Second World War. However, the aim of this article is to highlight Olof as a philanthropist – a generous man. He repetitively organised social activities for the needy and the elderly.

Olof was known for his generosity – a striking example of this is when he organised a dinner for 100 old and needy people in Rabat in 1937, on the occasion of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. 

A committee was set up to organise the event that included a number of volunteers who helped in the distribution of tickets and serve dinner to the guests. Other helpers offered their services providing tables and chairs to set up the hall for dinner and Messrs Critien printed the tickets and programme gratuitously. A copy of the printed dinner programme, which was probably distributed to all the guests, still survives in the archives of Palazzo Falson. (Palazzo Falson Archives 038/002). It reveals interesting information about the event and how it unfolded. The dinner was held on Sunday 9^th March 1937 at the Rabat Government School. It started with a Holy Mass, celebrated by Reverend Father Nicholas Magro, Lector General O.F.M at St. Paul’s Oratory and dinner was blessed by the Reverend Father Anthony Buhagiar, the Rabat Parish Priest.

The needy and old were served a complete meal starting with a soup and followed by the traditional dish of timpana, baked macaroni in a pastry case, pork, potatoes and gravy and finished off with fresh fruit and roly-poly with cream. Cigars were also offered to the guests. Music entertainment was provided by ‘Mr. Corits’ Band’ and ‘The Jolly Old Fellows Jazz Band. Both bands included ‘God Save the King’ in their repertoire.

On the inside cover of the printed programme, one finds a photograph of their Majesties, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – a fitting way to feature an official photograph of the two distinguished individuals, in whose honour the dinner was served. 

Many people contributed towards the success of this dinner, however it was thanks to the generosity of Olof that the event took place.

Newspaper cuttings affirm that Olof continued to organise other dinners for the poor. One of the reports (taken from a newspaper cutting found at the Palazzo Falson Archives 041/001) state that: ‘He was so very delighted at their (the needy and old people’s) enjoyment and their gratitude that he thought of giving a similar treat on Boxing day of the same year at the Government Elementary school.’  It seems that these events became seasonal over the years.

Others should follow this example; the pleasure and happiness occasioned the aged poor is out of all proportion to the outlay’. 

(Quote from a newspaper cutting reporting the Coronation dinner for the poor, Palazzo Falson Archives 041/001).

In 1941, a Christmas dinner was held at The Norman House (today known as Palazzo Falson) and 125 elderly men, of limited means, from Rabat and Mdina were invited to this feast (documented in the newspaper cuttings album at the Palazzo Falson Archives 041/001)

These dinner parties are witness of Olof Gollcher’s kindness and his involvement in philanthropic work. He is also known for his contribution towards Malta’s cultural heritage, so much so that he donated his Mdina Palazzo and his treasured collections for the enjoyment of the public.

I would like to thank Ms Caroline Tonna, the Curator of Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum for her guidance.

Palazzo Falson historic house museum is open daily (except on Mondays) from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm (last entry at 4.00 pm).

Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Villegaignon Street, Mdina 

Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10.00-17.00hrs (last entry 16.00hrs) 

www.palazzofalson.com 

Find us on facebook, TripAdvisor and Instagram 

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