St Paul's Bay Attractions
At the turn of the century, St Paul's Bay was a small fishing village, but in the last 20 years it has grown into a major tourist center.
According to the Bible, St Paul was allowed passage from Caesarea to Rome to stand trial for heresy before the Emperor Nero in A.D. 60.
In the autumn, St Paul and St Luke sailed from Palestine for Crete where they were to rest for the winter, but the centurion guard wanted to press further. According to tradition, the ship hit the gregale, an infamous and violent northeast winter wind, and the crew were shipwrecked on the northern coast of Malta.
St Luke writes about the experience in Acts of the Apostles 28: 1-2.
According to the Bible, St Paul was allowed passage from Caesarea to Rome to stand trial for heresy before the Emperor Nero in A.D. 60.
In the autumn, St Paul and St Luke sailed from Palestine for Crete where they were to rest for the winter, but the centurion guard wanted to press further. According to tradition, the ship hit the gregale, an infamous and violent northeast winter wind, and the crew were shipwrecked on the northern coast of Malta.
St Luke writes about the experience in Acts of the Apostles 28: 1-2.
Apostle's Fountain
What can look like just another of the many roadside shrines on the St Paul's Road near the head of the Bay is in fact the Apostle's Fountain. Two stories are told about this shrine to St Paul: one is that he and his fellow survivors were thirsty after the shipwreck, so he struck a stone and water miraculously gushed out; the other story says that he baptized the first Christians from this spring.
Festivals
The parish church of Our Lady of Sorrows holds annual celebrations on the last Sunday in July. The Shipwreck of St Paul is celebrated on the Sunday closest to February 10, with an evening procession to the Church of St Paul's Shipwreck, where a bonfire is lit. On June 29 an open-air mass is said at 6pm beneath the statue of St Paul on Selmunett, the largest of St Paul's islets.
La Scaletta - Church of St Paul's Shipwreck
According to tradition, it was on this site that St Paul and St Luke first kindled the physical and spiritual fire of the barbarous people of Malta. A place of worship has been known to exist here since the early 14th century.
Wignacourt Tower
This tower was built in 1609, overlooking the northern approaches of St Paul's Bay and was a prototype for the subsequent and much larger forts of St Lucien, St Thomas and Ste Mary's on Comino. The tower has been restored and houses a tiny local museum.
