Zebbug Niche Virtual Cache
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Historic location in the town of Zebbug Gozo.
Go to the location and find the 16C niche. Best seen at night when illuminated.
A string of holy niches (street shrines) bearing the statues of esteemed saints garland Gozo’s towns and villages. They are often closely connected with local cultural, historical and religious heritage as well as myth and legend. Our forefathers openly displayed their devotion to a particular saint by displaying his or her image in a decorative niche on the façade or corner of their home and many have been carefully maintained for generations.
Gozo’s holy niches are dedicated to a variety of saints, but due to a particular historical attachment to Our Lady, the majority of niches venerate the Holy Mother under one or other of her titles. Many of the niches were carved by amateurs and a few by establsished artists. They vary hugely in quality from the basic to the highly skilled. A fine example is the niche of St. John the Baptist in ix-Xewkija that was carved by the famous Gozitan sculptor Wistin Camilleri Cauchi.
Some niches were placed at the beginning of a street that bore the saint’s name. Conversely, some streets have taken their names from nearby niches (for example St Mary Street in ir-Rabat). Other niches were erected to commemorate a holy event or anniversary, while still others were constructed following a vow or in gratitude for deliverance from an accidentm disease or shipwreck. In certain cases, special graces or Indulgences were granted by the Church to those who stopped for a while to pray in front of a niche.
To claim this cache email me the exact spelling/words of the date on the adjoining stone plaque.
[Add your Virtual Cache description here.] Please leave the following text at the bottom of the page, so cache finders understand the Virtual Reward project.Virtual Reward - 2017/2018This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
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