Ta’ Duna Chapel in Rabat – Heaven For Vintage Lovers
Ta’ Duna Chapel is located on the corner of Triq San Pawl and Triq Doni in Rabat. And if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you can easily miss it. The building of the chapel doesn’t really stand out, it kind of blends in, but once you step in, you will discover the uniqueness of this place straight away.
The chapel was built in the 16th century and it is dedicated to St. Mary, and also to the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. The name of the chapel ‘Ta’ Duna’ is a dialect word from Ta’ Doni meaning ‘The Gifts’. Later on in the 17th century the chapel was rebuilt under the rule of Nikola Cottoner – the 18th Grand Master from Aragona.
Ta’ Duna Chapel consists of one altar, a sacristy, a room for archives and a balcony to house the organ (below). It also has a belfry.
The chapel closed down during WWII for obvious reasons. Once the war was over the chapel opened its doors to the public once again. Unfortunately, Ta’ Duna Chapel got yet again abandoned for quite a while. Nowadays it’s open to the public, but doesn’t have stable opening hours. You have to try your luck. 🙂
When you walk in, and have a good look around, you realise, that you just found yourself in a ‘vintage heaven’. If you’re a passionate collector or you just have ‘a thing’ for anything vintage this is the place to be! I mean some of the pieces you find here are so rare and unique that you will be asking yourself ‘How come no one bought them yet?’ But again, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, you don’t know the value.
Frank O’Neill generously donated everything that you can see here to raise funds for the restoration of this small chapel. I will talk about later on in this blog.
Can you recognise this building? This is a drawing of the New Opera House in Malta from 1863! How cool is that? I’m telling you, there is so much here and if you understand it (not like me), I’m sure you’ll be over the moon!
For all the admirers of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II there is something for you too! If you like anything related to Queen Elizabeth II, here are for example two original covers of the Everybody’s Weekly magazine from 1953!
Let me introduce you to Frank O’Neill. He is the one, who will welcome you in the chapel. But not only that! Frank does this ‘Unique Signature’ which is basically a quick drawing based on your own signature. He also plays a guitar and organises children entertainment shows. And I’m sure, much more!
As I already mentioned, Frank not only donated all his collections to the church to raise funds for restorations of this chapel, he also spends all his free time here to give you the opportunity to view it. I would highly recommend you to stop by next time you’re in Rabat. As you never know, you might get your hands on a unique piece of collectable art!
