Zejtun and Bishop Cagliares

Five years ago I purchased a Maltese townhouse in a street called Cagliares.

Lying in the oldest part of the town of Zejtun, my home is surrounded by grand houses in a state of neglect, most dating from the 16th century.

It is named after the Spanish Bishop Cagliares who reined here in Malta during the times of the Inquisitions in the 1500's. There is a palace bearing his name close by. It has been undergoing renovation too and is grandly designed. The chapel is so beautifully carved with stonework and light from the copula above.

Researching the name, I found that the Bishop had many palaces which he accumulated, the largest being The Inquisitors Palace in Victoriosa. This is now a national museum and displays the most horrid of torture instruments used on heretics during the dark days of religious persecution.

By coincidence in Croatia I met a Spanish university lecturer, who had a student interested in this name. He had in fact traveled to Malta to carry out research. In Spain there were no records available and it was surmised that these had been destroyed in the past to cover up the history.

This is hearsay, but you never do know the sinister past a name holds for the street where you live.

Withstanding that, my street is a happy street and the whole town is enjoying a Renaissance.