Ripples on the calm seas of Marsamxett Harbour as this yacht sails out of port. The arched building on Manoel Island is the Lazzaretto, taking the name of Lazarus, the Leper who, in the Gospel, is said to have been healed by Christ. Lepers, because of their highly contagious deseas,e where outcasts and made to live a life away from human habitations and left to fend for themselves. Having been a Quarantine Hospital the name suits this building very well. The edeifice is a complex of separate but interconnected buildings, varying in age and state of repair. The oldest parts dating from the 17th century are believed to be the ground floor rising sheer from the sea. The main building took on its present form under the grandmasterships of Nicholas Cotoner, Gregorio Carafa and Manoel de Vilhena, and would serve as Malta’s official quarantine hospital in times of cholera, plague and other epidemics for over 250 years. Among the more notable “guests” to have sojourned at the Lazzaretto during this period were the Romantic poet Lord Byron, who lodged there on his way back from cholera-ridden Greece in 1811, as well as the young Cardinal Newman. Lazzaretto was badly damaged during World War II. Abandoned for the last 40 years the building fell into disrepair. The Midi Consortium has been entrusted with its restoration together with that of Fort Manoel
