The Street Shrines of Victoria in Victoria, Malta

Look up as you walk the old lanes of Victoria, Gozo's capital, and you'll start seeing them: small religious shrines — niċeċ in Maltese — set into house walls and above doorways. Some are elaborate stone niches holding carved saints under Baroque canopies; others are simple painted figures behind glass, with a vase of plastic flowers and a lamp someone still lights at night. There are more than fi