The Ghosts of Malta

The Ghosts of Malta

     We travel from Washington D.C. and demon cats to the Republic of Malta, which is a Southern European nation located in the Mediterranean Sea, located fifty miles south of Italy and 176 miles north of Tunisia. It is a County of 122 square miles in size and has a population of just under 450,000 which makes it one of the world’s most smallest and most densely populated countries. Malta has two official languages, those being English and Maltese and has historically been a strategic location for many a ruling power, including the phoenicians, Romans, Moors, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, French, British, and the Knights of St. John.

     Malta today is a popular tourist destination with its warm climate, numerous recreational areas and architectural and historical monumets including three UNESCO World Heritage sites. In 1964 it was granted independence from Great Britain and became a republic in 1974. Admitted into the United Nations in 1964, it entered into the European Union in 2004 and by 2008 became part of the Eurozone.

     This of course is what the average, everyday people want to know when they’re out and about on a vacation - But you’re not average, everyday people are you? I should hope not! When it comes to people, places and happenings, you need that little bit of kick, like a dash of hot pepper flakes in your chicken soup!

     Manoel Island and the Black Knight -

     The apparition of a Black Knight, who seemed to spring out of nowhere, occurred during the years immediately following World War I, and was spotted by both Maltese and Englishmen working near a heap of rubble as part of the restoration of the island. Fort Manoel was a man-of-war and part of the reconstruction work being carried there at the time was to give back some sense of décor to the chapel. Dressed in full armour and regalia of the Order of St John, the knight would be seen supervising the men’s work and his apparitions became more frequent once work there became more regular. The workmen also noticed the similarity between the Black Knight and a portrait of Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena himself by Favray which still hangs in the President’s Palace in Valletta. When a crypt beneath the chapel was opened with the permission of the Archbishop, Captain Brockman, who was leading the work, found it had been destroyed by vandals. The altar and the reliefs bearing the crucifix and the souls in purgatory were all wrecked. When the crypt was restored and masses were said, the knight stopped appearing. However, he came back. When investigations were once again carried out it was discovered that the crypt had been vandalized again, this occurring in 1980.

     Fort St Angelo -

     It was at the time of the first governor of Siculo-Norman times, who was of Sicilian-Aragonese origins and a member of the family Di Nava, that the ghost of the Grey Lady came into being. She was one of the two women of Captain di Nava. Tired of being shared, she tried to protest only to be taken away by guards, killed and her body thrown in a cell in the fort’s dungeon.

     She was seen and heard by both Maltese and English men. The children called her “the nice lady” and she was said to look very beautiful yet very sad. Others, however, found her to be very aggressive and vulgar as she banged and threw the furniture about. A Maltese lady decided to help the ghost by opting for solemn exorcism. The Grey Lady was never seen again.

     The Grand Masters’ Palace -

     Built by la Cassiere, this palace was one of the three residences of the British Governor. According to Mr Attard, an English lady who lived in the residence had been tormented by the sound of cats and dogs fighting in one of the rooms. When she went into the room to investigate, she discovered nothing. There was, however, an occasion when one of the ghosts appeared in the form of a large cat. She followed it to the window, and saw it jump outside in the yard where some men were working. When she asked about the cat’s whereabouts, they couldn’t make out what she was referring to. They hadn’t seen any cat.

     Verdala Palace -

     Grand Master De Verdalle left this palace for posterity and it was to be later connected with the story of the Blue Lady.

     She was a young woman, a niece of Grand Master De Rohan for whom a suitor not to her liking had been chosen. Tired of being rejected by the lady in question, he imprisoned her in her room. One day she decided to escape through the window, only to fall out of it to her death. She was then seen roaming the building wearing a blue dress, the same dress she was said to have been wearing when she died. Between 1915 and 1919, Field Marshal Lord Methuen was governor of Malta. He was housing a guest – a certain Howard Jones – in the room, which had belonged to the Blue Lady. One day he asked the governor who the lady in blue, whom he always saw reflected in the mirror when he was dressing, was.

     According to Mr Attard, the secret was out and there was no need for the governor to explain as most of the staff at the castle had also seen her.

     Another weird manifestation, which may or may not be connected to the Blue Lady but which also occurred at Verdala Palace during Lord Methuen’s years of government occurred when the bishop of London was visiting the island. He failed to turn up on time for a dinner held in his honour much to the annoyance of the Governor who Mr Attard tells us was a “stickler for time”.

He turned up half an hour late. He explained that the reason for his tardiness was that he had “supernatural trouble” when his door opened by itself when he was about to leave, only to shut in his face, preventing him from going out. He was kept inside the room for half an hour and it was only when he recited the prayers of exorcism that it became possible for him to leave the room.

     These are just a few locations on Malta where the spirits of the dead come to spend their days and nights - maybe to catch a tourist or two, to frighten a bit or even a local to say BOO too - Have a great day everyone! AND PLEASE SHARE!