Pope John Paul II blessed the statue before it was put under water.
The Maltese islands are filled with epic wonders everywhere one looks but the wondrous sites are not just found above ground but underwater as well…
After all, Malta and Gozo are hailed as some of the top dive sites in Europe for a reason.
One such underwater wonder is the sunken statue of Christ of the Sailors, or as it is known in Maltese, Kristu tal-Bahhara.
The statue is a whopping three metres tall, depicting Jesus Christ stretching his arms out, protecting the sailors passing 25 metres above him on the surface.
The ‘Kristu tal-Bahhara’ was the idea of the avid diver Raniero Borg who suggested the project as a way to commemorate the first visit of Pope John Paul II to Malta in 1990.
It was designed and made by the talented Maltese sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi who managed to make the impressive statue in less than five months.
The sunken statue received the ultimate blessing from none other than the beloved Pope John Paul II himself.
At the time, the concept of an underwater attraction was completely new to Malta. This soon led to the statue being one of the main topics of conversation at the time.
The statue was even put on display at the Granaries in Floriana in order for everyone to catch a glimpse of such a marvel, before being placed down below.
It turned out to be such a huge attraction that many from across the Maltese Islands made their way to St Paul’s Islands by boat to see the statue being sunk as it was being blessed by the Pope.
Before the eight tonne statue was sunk, the statue was placed on a floating platform that was decorated in a sea of colourful flowers.
The statue remained near the Saint Paul’s Islands for 10 years, and a decade later it had to be moved to Qawra since the visibility of the water wasn’t what it once was.
There’s even a 16th century anchor lying nearby!
The site has truly become an iconic one to the point where there is even a small replica of in the Malta National Aquarium in St Paul’s Bay.
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