File:Malta - Paola - Addolorata Cemetery 20 ies.jpg

English: Addolorata Cemetery in Paola, Malta.

Cappella Messina, 1875, by Nicola Zammit (1815-1899).

"Although very different in style to other chapels, its features share similarities with his other works beyond the cemetery such as height and verticality, the incorporation of pilasters and columns, detached or engaged, and the used of pointed finials. His designs for the chapel feature the use of high narrow walls which create a perfect octagonal mausoleum. Carved relief palm trees, assuming the role of engaged columns, with upright projecting palm fronds, as well as long, slender inverted torches further emphasize an upward movement. His addition of running, broken entablatures made to project from, and recede into, walls further enhance an overall dynamism of design.
The extensive symbolism incorporated within the chapel's design is masterly. His decision to include the palm tree recalls the idea of a sacred grove, its circular shape that of a martyrium. It also brings to mind the idea of an axis mundi, the bridge linking the terrestrial with the heavenly realm. This richness in symbolic imagery reflects Zammit's genius in consolidating metaphysical Christian concepts through architectural grammar".
(Mario Borg, "The Addolorata Church and Funerary chapels of the Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century", in Conrad Thake (ed.), The Addolorata Cemetery, Midsea books, 2020, p.41-42)