Comino Chapel

The Chapel of the Return of the Holy Family from Egypt or the Chapel of the Return from Egypt or simply St Mary's Chapel is a Roman Catholic church located on the island of Comino in Malta.

The chapel of St Mary was first mentioned in a map dating from 1296. However, the location of this original chapel is not known. It may be the present chapel was built on the exact site of the medieval chapel. The original chapel must have been ravaged on numerous occasions by pirates that attacked island due to its defenseless shores. In fact there was no defense on Comino prior to 1618. As a result, the population of the island abandoned the island and went to live on the nearby island of Gozo. In 1618, the knights built a defense tower, Saint Mary's Tower. This encouraged some people to return to Comino and resettle there. Consequently, the chapel of Comino was rebuilt in its current site. The exact date of its construction is unknown however we do know that in 1667 Bishop Bueno deconsecrated the church but was again opened for public worship in 1716. This time the chapel was enlarged and refurbished and rededicated to the Return of the Holy Family from Egypt, the only such church with this dedication in Malta.

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