The real de Valette sword - Vittoriosa's best kept secret

While Malta argues about the ceremonial sword presented to Jean Parisot de Valette and now held at the Louvre, hardly anyone knows that the sword said to have been used by the Grandmaster in battle has been on display for years...in Vittoriosa. A centuries-old tale has it that at the end of the Great Siege, de Valette laid down his sword and hat at the altar of the chapel of Our Lady of Damascus, in Vittoriosa, as a votive offering. The chapel is now part of St Joseph’s Oratory, which houses a number of exhibits curated by the Vittoriosa Historical and Cultural Society – and the sword is the museum’s prize exhibit. Historians agree that the tale is very probably grounded in fact. When examined, the sword was found to date to the correct period. Moreover, scholar and historian Giovanni Bonello explained that the tradition is referenced in literature dating to 200 years ago. Similarly, Order of St John academic Emanuel Buttigieg agreed that the tradition is usually accepted as real. The story of the sword is tied to that of the Vittoriosa chapel, which took its name from an icon of Our Lady of Damascus, brought to Malta by natives from Rhodes, who accompanied the Knights when they...