hands of Mason Piju Ebejer. It was inaugurated on 4 April 1870. A much larger church was built during the period of 1898–1901. This new building was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Archbishop Monsigneur Peter Pace blessed the chapel on 7 February 1901. The reverence to St Roque A common occurrence in many streets, buildings and historical sites around Malta is the reverence to Saint Roque. The belief is that Saint Roque is the protector Saint against the plague and honouring him would protect the inhabitants against the Plague and any other form of contagious disease prevalent at the time. In Balzan there is a Church, a Street as well as a Statue dedicated to Santu Rokku ( Saint Roque). The statue is strategically placed at the corner of the street bearing the same name in order to oversee and protect the people living in the village. Cultural Heritage Property in Balzan Palazzo Bosio Villa Macedonia Church of San Anard Wignacourt Aqueduct Notable Persons Rev. Monsignor John (Gwann) Dimech ( 1922-2009) Piju Ebejer (1874-1931) Master Stone Mason Gabriel Caruana Artist ( 1929-2018) Rev. Dr Joseph Zammit Bernardo Manduca Piscopo Macedonia (1891-1971) Prof. John Borg Bishop Joseph Grech Giuseppe Frendo Mikel Scicluna Professional Wrestler 29 July 1929 – 20 March 2010 Religious Organisations Good Shepherd Convent also known as Tal-Bon Pastur is a convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters who arrived in Malta from Smyrna in 1858. They were initially given a house in Lija by the Marquis Testaferrata to set up a boarding school for girls coming from Malta and Sicily. Today this building serves as the site for the Local Council, Social Services and Post Office within the village. They also offered classes for orphans and women who wanted to lead more meaningful lives. The convent in Balzan was built with the help of many benefactors in 1868. The work of the convent continues to be that of helping and offering women and their children shelter from domestic violence, helping single mothers and now also helping male refugess and their families who end up in Malta. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Convent was built in 1926. It housed a convent, a chapel and a school. Stella Maris School Malta adopted the Montessori system of teaching when it opened in 1944. A few years later, in 1950, the school was offering kindergarten classes along with the primary school