With the support of the Centre d’Études Alexandrines and St. Catherine’s Cathedral in Alexandria, the Embassy of Malta participated in an exhibition entitled Ste. Catherine histoire et architecture et la communauté Maltaise d’Alexandrie. The exhibition, a first of its kind showcasing the Maltese community of Alexandria, formed part of the 15th edition of the Journée du patrimoine Alexandrin and was curated by Mr. Mahmoud Saïd, an architect working in multidisciplinary backgrounds.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Pace observed how the history of Maltese immigrants in the UK, Canada and Australia was quite well documented, but relatively little was known about the Maltese of Egypt. As such, this exhibition was one more effort among several that the Embassy has ongoing to create more awareness about the Maltese that lived in Alexandria. Ambassador Pace referred to the public lecture that Dr. Michael Refalo, author of the publication Among Others, The Maltese in Egypt: Life, Crime and Death (1860s-1923), delivered at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in March 2023 that showed the unique characteristics of the Maltese diaspora of Egypt as one that adapted generally well within Egypt’s cosmopolitan environment. The polyglot nature of the community enabled it to interact with the other minorities that made up the cosmopolitan nature of historic Alexandria. 

Ambassador Pace also noted the importance of St. Catherine’s Cathedral to the Maltese community as the first Maltese immigrants in Alexandria were known to have settled around this very cathedral, which was mainly built as a place of worship to serve the Italian community, and later the Maltese, who were the second largest Catholic community in the city. He thanked the Franciscan friars for hosting the exhibition and for taking good care of the invaluable records of Maltese births, marriages, and deaths that are stored in this cathedral. Many a Maltese family would not have been able to trace its roots without these records. Ambassador Pace was also grateful to Dr. Thomas Faucher, Director, and all the staff at the Centre d’Études Alexandrines, whom he had the pleasure to visit earlier this year and with whom he hoped to have more ongoing collaboration; to Ms. Marwa Abdel Gawad, who started the Journée du patrimoine Alexandrin 15 years ago; and to Mr. Mahmoud Saïd for curating the exhibition.

Ambassador Pace was accompanied by Mr. Pascoe Grima, Deputy Head of Mission and Consul.